Tangled In Time

Whispers in The Walls

I selected a light  airy cream day dress with a fitted bodice that gracefully flared out at the knee, adorned with a delicate floral print. It boasted a boat neckline and short sleeves. Blake, only managed to get one pair of shoes, unfortunately a size too large, had chosen low-heeled open-toe sandal in the same cream colour as my dress. Grateful for the low heels, I retreated to the small bathroom to change and emerged feeling rather disheartened.

As I shut the bathroom door, Blake looked up at me. "Do I look ridiculous? Please, be honest," I asked as I stepped out. He gazed at me for a moment before responding,

"You look... Nice." I had taken my hair out of the ponytail as the heat had made it frizz and allowed it to cascade around my shoulders in a frizzy mane. I reached up to smooth my hair.

"The shoes are a tad too big," I mentioned, demonstrating how easily they could slip off. "And I feel a bit frumpy," I added, shifting uncomfortably. Blake removed a sheet, unveiling a mirror. "Why don't you take a look?" I gave him an exasperated look and awkwardly made my way to the mirror, tripping slightly on the shoes.

Staring at my reflection, I found the dress to be lovely. However, my attention was drawn to my own image in the mirror—my brown, frizzy waves around my shoulders, my brown eyes still bearing traces of tears, rimmed with red and slightly swollen. Wordlessly, Blake handed me a wide-brimmed straw hat adorned with a cream satin ribbon.

"Thank you," I muttered, sincerely wishing I had access to hair straighteners. "Do you think my hair looks bad?" I asked, attempting to comb my fingers through it but getting them stuck.

"Not at all, I quite like it," Blake said frankly. I gave him a quizzical look through the mirror, smoothing my hair one last time before we left.

The path through the forest was bathed in dappled sunlight, and a gentle breeze rustled the leaves, creating a soothing, almost magical atmosphere. The distant sound of birds chirping, and the scent of the woods filled the air. I huffed as I trailed behind Blake, having to keep stopping to slip back into my oversized shoes.

"So, what's the story?" I asked, leaning against a tree. Blake had carried on walking until he realized I was no longer following him.

Blake stopped and turned to face me, sighing as he spoke, "Do you need me to carry you?"

"No," I grumbled, pushing my foot back into the shoe. The sun was relentless, and with the shoes being too big, my feet kept slipping out of them. Blake shrugged and continued walking. "I had a friend in the army, he passed away. No one here knew him personally. I visited his sister and his mother last year, and I thought you could pretend to be her."

"Does anyone know her name?" I asked, concerned that adding a false name to the mix would only complicate things further.

"I don't believe-" Blake stopped and turned to me. "I've not even asked what your name is."

"Felicity," I replied, once again having to stop and reposition my feet in the shoes. Blake looked down at my feet, as if wanting to say something but he hesitated.

I moved passed him and walked a little further trying to grip my feet in the shoes, until I was halted by a fence with a small kissing gate which would usually allow people to get through but this one had a thick metal chain wrapped around it with a large rusty padlock.

"We'll have to climb over," Blake said from behind me.

"Right, you wait here, and I'll go and get the car," Blake said, setting me gently on my feet. A bead of sweat rolled down past his temple.

"Wait, what?" I asked. Blake rolled his eyes and said very slowly as if I were stupid.

"I'm... going... to get... the car," he said slowly, drawing out the words. I smacked the hat off his shoulder.