Hiding out in an abandoned shack from their abusive pasts, Allison and Ethan Bryson entertain themselves by imaging all sorts of curious characters near the frozen lake outside their hut.
But after Allison witnesses a man murder a young woman and di...
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By the time Ethan finished his drawing the sun had dipped just below the fiery horizon. The snow and ice shimmered off the surface of the beautiful frozen lake, which was about one hundred feet or so from the shack.
This happened to be the best time to look out the window and see who else Ethan and I would meet, as it punctuated the day.
And on cue, Ethan emerged from the bathroom, tucked his notebook away on the book shelf, and sat on the edge of the bed in his favorite spot. He stared toward the window as he done hundreds of times before. "Who is it that you see, Allison?"
I ignored the notebook, place the thought of its curious contents in the back of my mind, and quickly got into storytelling mode. "The beautiful girl in the red cloak has returned." I leaned forward in the snug chair and wiped my palm across the window to clear the foggy condensation from the glass. Now the lake came into clear view.
"Is she alone?" Ethan's head tilted to the side curiously.
"Yes, she's alone. She's walking with her head down. She looks really lost and lonely."
"Describe her to me." Ethan lay back on the bed with his hands cradling his head, and stared at the ceiling.
"Well, she's about my height and shape. She's wearing a long dark dress and a beautiful diamond ring on her left hand." Allison was sure Ethan knew she couldn't see a piece of jewelry on a person's hand from that distance, but she entertained his imagination anyway.
"Where is the knight?"
"The knight was too busy examining the shadows and lost her somewhere beyond the snowy trees. Now she's lonely because he's gone."
Ethan turned to his side and watched me as my mind conjured up more images, he stared as if he could see the cogs working in my brain.
In the silence that followed, I took in my surroundings while piecing together my tale. The log walls allowed a breeze of air into the shack through the spaces, making the temperature drop about another ten degrees. I shivered and Ethan must've noticed, because he offered me a blanket from the bed. The blanket was all I needed to hold my body heat in, making me cozy.
I peered out the window again and was stunned to see movement. I squinted my eyes for better vision, focusing on the spot near the edge of the lake where it occurred. My heart thumped against my ribcage and I nearly gasped when a figure of a young man disrupted the shimmer of ice near the frozen lake.
Could this be real?
After all these years, have my imagination suddenly become so vivid?
"Wait a minute." I shook my head, still unsure. "I see ... the knight."
"He's returned?" Ethan's eyebrows perked with excitement, making my stomach tremble with a mixture of excited anxiety I haven't felt in so long.
"Yes." Butterflies fluttered in my belly at the thought of seeing a figment of my imagination come to life before my eyes. "The knight has returned and he's without armor. He's wearing dark colored jeans and a thick black sweater, and he's looking around as if he's searching for something."
