Stones Of Winter

The Cat's Meow

Silence lingers in the room as Olivia and August wait for more. What happened to Purdue? Where did the child go? What happens to the rings and the rest of the kingdom? 

Jasmine clears her throat, "Well, you two should go get more logs from the studio for the fireplace." 

Olivia stands up then straightens out her clothes, "Will do," She says before heading for the door, slipping on her rain boots and black rain coat  before heading out into the rain. 

August follows moments later. He stuffed his feet into his sopping wet shoes and hurries after her.

"Hey! What's your deal? Just wait up a sec- okay?" He calls from behind her as he slides clumsily through the now muddy snow.

Olivia makes it to the  door of a large old wooden barn. She grabs onto the rusty handle of the over-sized sliding door and uses all her body weight to try pulling it through the mud. 

"What's this building for?" August asks quizzically. He blinks then realizes that the door is caught in the mud, "Here, let me help," He offers

 August swiftly steps behind Olivia and grabs the door. She tenses up, he's close enough that she can smell the cologne on his flannel jacket. His head leans slightly over her shoulder. Together, they give the door an extra pull to get it to move enough for them to get inside.

She turns her head to look at him, forgetting on how close they still were. He smiles and nods at her making heat rise up to her cheeks. She quickly spins around and practically leaps into the barn away from him. 

"This building is a lot of things actually," Olivia quickly replies as she begins frantically searching under tarps and behind stacks of farming equipment for the fire wood. Taking a pause, she takes a deep breath and calms herself down for a moment. The wood boards on the floor creek as they meander through the room. The sound of the rain is muffled by the wooden walls. Everything about this place is old and rusty.

"It has been a supply closet, a garage, an art studio, a barn," She lists, "What ever we need it to be. Just be careful, this place is falling apart more and more every day."

Art Studio? August's eyes light up, "Ahhh So you're an artist?"

His search for firewood is put on pause when he notices a ladder that goes up into another room. He climbs the ladder while an unsuspecting Olivia continues to search the floor. 

Up in the loft, August finds an Aisle covered by a sheet. There's a dry pallet and a cup of dusty brushes besides it. Around the floor, there are planks of wood, pieces of paper, and canvas laying around with paint and sketches on them. He wanders to the Aisle covered by the sheet and pulls it off, revealing a half-finished painting of a young girl about to hug a man who could be her Dad. The man knelt beside her with open arms.

The expression on the young girl's face was vivid, she had bright wide eyes and a darling smile while the face of the older gentleman was incomplete. He seemed mysterious, he wore a long coat as though it had been raining and his hands were blurry compared to the hands on the young girl.

"I had met a man once when I was young. It was the day my Grandma explained to me that she wasn't my Mom. My mom had disappeared long ago when I was young, and my father is a complete mystery. I remember being devastated, as though my identity was no longer my own. I remember running away and crying by myself for hours," She inhaled deeply as she remembered the feeling and exhaled the memory, letting it go once again,

"Anyway, A man had found me crying; at first I was afraid of him, but then he told stories about his life and how he fell in love with a pretty lady who had the same name as me. He smiled, saying that I reminded him of her and that everything in the end had turned out okay for her, so it should for me too. He gave me a flower then brought me home to my grandma."