The Sky Never Ends

Into the Woods

When the one thing you want
Is the only thing out of your reach.

*******************

Ikal and Selah sat between the tall blades of green grass for a few hours more. She mindlessly twisted and tied pieces of grass in her hands and distractedly talked to Ikal. Although she wasn't paying much attention, she quickly noticed that she seemed to be the only one talking for longer than a few seconds.

Ikal would fire off question after question to Selah and he was fine as long as they were speaking about her and her past. Whenever she tried to ask him questions about his life and more about how he ended up on the Woodbridge's homestead he would quickly divert the conversation. It was not subtle either. It bothered her a bit, but not enough for her to say something. He wanted her to be open with him, but could not do the same in return. He was similar to Noah in that aspect. They offered so much, but hid the most crucial important pieces of themselves. The parts that might actually help her understand them better.

After a while, their conversation dwindled and Selah's stomach began to rumble. She figured that she had hidden for enough of the day. Ikal gave her a short goodbye and then disappeared off to wherever he wanted on the property it seemed.

***

Selah was in no hurry, she spent the majority of her walk going over in her head how she would explain what Ikal saw to Noah. She knew that talking with him often was a tumultuous disaster that left Selah feeling cross and befuddled. She didn't want to regress her relationship with Noah any further.

She made it to Noah's home just as slowly as she left. Luckily for her, she managed to get to his door unseen.

It was rare that Selah had news to tell Noah, thinking about it, she was unsure if she ever had. And it had her stomach twisting in knots.

Even when it came to the health of crops or the animals, he already knew. He was a sleuth, someone who knew all there was to know about anything and everything. Especially when it came to the homestead.

Maybe he did already know and was going to wait to tell the other family members and herself. she thought. Was she going to throw herself into the lion's den for no reason? Have Noah alarmed unnecessarily? Selah had been standing there with her hand stretched out reaching for the door knob and her bottom lip between her teeth for at least three minutes.

Selah eventually decided that she'd spent enough time at the back door, thinking and procrastinating. She took in a deep breath, straightened her posture, and stepped inside.

Noah's herculean figure hunched over the kitchen table was the first thing she saw. His massive body much to big for the small dining chair holding him up. A spreadsheet of blue prints on parchment was once again sprawling before him. He'd likely been sitting in that exact spot for hours, studying and perfecting his work. Once he was focused on a project it was nearly impossible to drag his attention away from it. The familiar engraved silver flask was only a few inches away from his fingers... it never seemed to be too far away.

"Where've you been all day?" he questioned without looking up from his spreadsheets. His voice sounded like he hadn't spoken all day, it was low and gravelly similar to that of someone just waking up.

"I've been outside... laundering our clothes." her meek voice whispered from the doorway.

"Have you? Found a place that works better for you?" he finally looked up, eyeing her suspiciously from under his brows. His grey eyes slowly wandered from the top of her loosely pulled back curls, to the frayed hem of her dress sweeping the floor, as she set the laundry bucket on a stool.