Noelle

Chapter 4

The little girl shrieks as she runs through the thick underbrush, a wide grin on her face. She throws a swift look behind her; dark brown curls whip against her face in the wind, and her screams turn shrill as she is suddenly grabbed around the waist and tossed over a broad shoulder.

The man carrying her bellows with laughter at her giggles as he gently sets her down on a tree stump. He smiles at the girl, his expression warm with affection as she grins back up at him. His eyes are a brilliant emerald green and she feels herself being drawn into his gaze. He kneels down in front of her, taking her small hands in his.

"Elle, I'm going to go away on another trip soon. I need you to promise to be good for mommy. Can you do that for me?"

She feels some of her previous elation dim. "Why do you have to go again?"

He smiles sadly at her. "Well, baby, sometimes we have to do things that we don't want to do. It's just a part of life," he says, ruffling her hair.

She pouts. "But mommy gets mad when you leave."

His smile fades. "What do you mean?"

She opens her mouth to respond, quickly closing it as she now stares at him in confusion. The edges of his body have begun to blur, and she feels a sudden panic rising in her chest as he starts to disappear. She reaches out for him and finds herself grasping at thin air.

A strangled scream is torn from her throat as she struggles to make him out. The last thing she sees before he is gone entirely are radiant green eyes.

I wake up a sweaty mess. I quickly realize that I'd become tangled up in the sheets while I'd been sleeping and I twist out from under them. Brushing my hair back from my forehead I let out a breath, hoping that I can leave the dream behind me.

•••

"Noelle, what a surprise! How are you, honey?" Marta's voice pulls me from my daydream and I look up from the table.

"Not bad, though I could do without all of this rain. How are you?" I ask. Marta is so kind that it's impossible not to feel at ease around her.

"I'm doing just fine! And as far as that rain goes, it'll be snow soon enough!" This statement is met with grumbling from the other patrons in the diner, and Marta winks at them. "Don't you worry, though. I'll be stocked up on coffee and hot chocolate!" She slides into the chair across from me. "So, tell me. How are you liking Aspen?"

There's no simple way of answering this question but I do my best. "It's not been bad, really. There are some really nice people here," I say, motioning towards Marta, who scoffs but nonetheless looks highly pleased. "It's just been different."

"Do you miss home?" Marta asks, observing me with intelligent brown eyes.

I pause. No one has asked me that before, and it throws me off. That seems to be a theme here. I think about her question.

I don't miss the situation that I left. What I miss is the way things had once been, back when my father was around. "A little," I finally say.

We're quiet for a moment before Marta smiles again. "I heard you're working for Alexander. How has that been?"

"He has been so kind! I had a little accident on my first day, but he was really good about it. And Fen is..." I pause for a moment as I try to figure out how to describe my newest friend.

"Exuberant? Fiery? Fen is quite a character," Marta says, filling in for me, and we both laugh. "So that's where you got that bruise on your forehead? I was wondering but didn't want to ask."