Almost Dusk {A Black Widow Story}

PREFACE

Side note: all the events and characters in this story are either taken from MARVEL or fictionally created by myself. Please do not copy any ideas without permission.

-1945- One year later.

The warm glow of the afternoon sun shone brightly through the bedroom window and streamed its

way out into the hall; the light illuminating the tiny particles of dust wafting through the air like a

sequined dress shimmering under a spotlight.

Each particle flows and soars endlessly within the confines of the light's rays, bringing life to the otherwise still life of the upstairs rooms.

The approaching echoes of footsteps running up stairs and growing louder with each thud breaks the silence of the sunny afternoon in which families would spend their time basking in the warmth of the summer sun.

As the footsteps reach their peak, the particles of dust scatter and gather up speed.

"Have you found it?" A voice calls from below.

"Hold on!" Shouts back the owner of the oncoming footsteps.

Rose, with her buttery golden curls almost reaching down to her waist and her bright blue eyes as wide and curious as ever, jogs into the hallway and makes a beeline for the bedroom on the right.

Her eyes dart around the room, searching for something unseen. She checks her desk, her bookshelf,
the closet, behind the curtains, still unsatisfied with what she finds.

Biting her lower lip in concentration, she turns to face the bed in the centre of the room and begins hastily unfolding the covers and lifting the pillows, sending them crashing to the ground with a dull thud.

After another moment of searching, she pulls the covers from her bed and smooths them back to a messier version of what they once were.

Bending down to reach for the pillows, Rose slows her action as if lost in sudden thought.

Placing the pillows back onto the bed, she lowers herself to her knees and drops to floor with her right hand reaching out under the bed.

Hands colliding with sheets of paper, lost books and forgotten bits and pieces that lay like a burial ground under the bed, she feels out the objects until her hand touches something with a flat,

smooth surface.

Sweeping the object out from under the bed, Rose raises her body to standing and moves to sit on the edge of the bed.

Now under the sun's light, the object in her hand becomes clearer in the way a

foggy memory does after a little coaxing.

With her thumb gliding back and forth over the blackened screen, Rose studies the object which she recognises is one of the phones used in the future; a future that she knew all too well.

Caught in a trance of remembrance, the sudden calling from downstairs startles her and reminds her of the task at hand.

Looking up and scanning the room, her eyes catch the glimmer of gold that glints under the sun's gaze.

Overcome with relief, Rose jumps to her feet and plucks the gold locket from beside the old teddy bear that sits with nostalgia on the middle shelf in her bookcase.

With one hand grasping tightly to the locket, she uses the other hand to slide the phone under her pillow, quickly readjusting the pillow to sit neatly as before.

Then, with one final check of the room,
she calls out "Found it!"
And races back out of the room, her footsteps retreating down the staircase
with the knowledge of a newfound task sitting at the back of her mind.

Or rather, at the back of her bed underneath a pillow...