My Patchwork Child

Chapter Nineteen

I slept with a grin plastered to my face, that night. Despite my ever-lasting anxiety, I was happy. The house was gorgeous. It was a dream come true. But more so, Alden was supportive, kind and loving.

It'd been months, though, since I'd seen Cinder and I missed her a lot.

I turned under my unclean duvet and closed my eyes. Underneath the pale moonlight, the promise of a memorable dream awoke. It glinted itself in with the stars and only peaked through the gap in the curtain.

It was there for only a moment, and went unnoticed by anyone other than myself. I opened my eyes a slit as it slid away, catching the light for only a second. My stomach swelled. I closed my eyes.

Oh, dear...

When my eyes reopened, I was in a new environment. Instantly, I recognized the house Alden had built. There was a clear difference, though. It was beautifully decorated.

I looked myself up and down. I was in new, pristine clothes, ironed well. My hair was cleaner than it'd ever been and not a scratch was on my body. But the most surprising thing? I had both legs. No crutches were there to support me because I didn't need them.

I walked from the room I was stood in, my bedroom, and met Alden downstairs.

He smiled when he saw me.

'You ready to go?' I asked, jabbing a finger into his side.

He laughed, swung an arm over my shoulders, and together we left the house.

Outside, the day's colours swelled and mixed in perfect harmony. The sharp blue sky running like a river around pure clouds. The grass sparkled with dewy delight as we traced a path towards the pasture Chewy grazed in.

Smooth brown bunnies and electric-hued birds littered the area, giving new pops of colour to the block of lime green plantation.

When we reached Chewy's pasture, I vaulted cleanly over the fence, something I would not be capable of with only one leg. Alden followed along behind me, as I strode confidently up to the grey donkey.

He waved his long ears at me and trudged over in his old-man fashion. Haunches swaying and dipping with each stretch of the leg.

Together, Alden and I fed Chewy. In the corner of his massive pasture was a barn he could enter when it rained, or whenever he felt like it. But it also had a locked store room where we kept his food.

Once he was content, we ran races across the meadow and into the forest.

'First one to The Great Birch wins!' I challenged as we jumped back over Chewy's fence.

The Great Birch was a huge, birch tree (shocker) in the middle of a forest of oaks. Alden once told me (outside of the dream) that it was planted centuries ago as a symbol of hope amongst the horrors and pains of the world. And that, although it's the only one, it stands out the most.

'You just have to look for it.' He'd said.

And, so, we raced across the grassy plain, hair bristling in the warm winds, as if racing the screeching eagle. My bare feet hit the earth only to fly from its reach less than a moment late. When I got to run like that, I'd spread my arms out behind me. It would feel as though I were soaring. I would do the same whilst riding angel. Breeze would whip the tips of my fingers like it was clouds.

Running was so blissful. Was.

I remember all too well that satisfying stinging in the corners of my eyes. The breeze carrying my hair, letting it burst out like a mane from behind me. The soreness in my limbs as a pressed them forward, faster. The tickling grass beneath my feet. I remember it all painfully clearly.