SYNCHRONICITY (Dream Walker) 🖋

Secret Place - 2

James led Alison through the cozy cabin-like one-room structure lighting lanterns along the way. The main room was brightly colored, yet possessed a zen-like quality to it. Above the tiny cast-iron potbelly stove was a framed piece of artwork. Upon closer inspection, she saw that it was written in crayon by a child and it read,

"SEcREt PlACE,
SwEET
SEcREt pLAcE"

Alison laughed in spite of herself.

"What are you finding so funny?"

"Secret place, sweet secret place...did you make that?" She pointed to the child's artwork, treasured enough to be placed under glass.

"Ugh yeah." He chuckled. "I think I was four at the time?"

"Four and you were writing your letters already? That's pretty good," Alison said.

James shrugged his shoulders.

"So it's the name of this place..."

James nodded as he removed a counter-top from atop the freezer. "Mmhm, that's right."

"I had wondered why it was always talked about as a secret place when it seemed that everyone knew about it."

James laughed quietly. "True, but no one knows where it is, except Dad and me."

"Not even Topher?"

He shook his head. "Not even Topher."

"Wow..."

"But, now, you know too," he said beaming.

She shook her head. "No, actually I don't."

"But you're here." He held up wrapped up chicken breasts and pork chops.

She moved in closer and peered into the nearly empty freezer. "I don't know how to get here, James." She reached in a pulled out what felt to be a steak. She turned it over and saw that it was venison and she stuck out her tongue. "Blech."

"Dad will take that one," he chuckled.

"You said that not even Topher knows how to get here?"

James placed the meat on the small table and closed the freezer and replaced the counter-top, saying that his godfather could probably triangulate their location if he absolutely had to. "He's brilliant!"

She frowned and nodded. "Yeah, I know he is."

_____

Alison and James returned to find the railing of the deck warmly lit by torches. Sebastian was servicing the grill, seasoning it with one of the onions he had purchased. Although he heard them before he saw them, he turned his head and smiled. "So, what did we decide on?"

James seated himself at the picnic table. "Well, turns out that she's not a huge fan of venison, so she's going to have chicken, and since there isn't enough of that to properly go around, I'm going to have pork and you're getting the Bambi-meat."

Sebastian moved toward his son as he wiped his hands on a cotton towel. "How low on provisions are we, James?"

"If It were only the two of us, we'd be good for a few days. But since there's three of us, maybe a day? After that, we need to make another store trip."