Our second world- book one: Past beginnings

Chapter 4: Grace

  Most of yesterday afternoon is a blur to me. I remember talking to Haren and crying, but not much after that. The night practically flew by, and the next thing I knew, it was morning. As I sat up to stretch, I pulled my long hair off my face. It had stuck to my cheeks where my tears from yesterday had dried. I wiped my eyes on the sleeve of my sweatshirt and stood up. When I did, Haren stirred, and sat up. While he was getting ready, I folded up the blanket we had used and put it away in the dresser.

I saw that the sun had barely started rising when the two of us stepped outside. Despite the early hour, Clareya was crouched in the small garden by the house pulling weeds. Even without saying anything, she seemed to understand that Haren and I were leaving. After giving us both hugs, she waved to us as we started walking out of town.

It had only been little more than a day since we arrived in this place, but I felt a strange sadness as we walked through the forest toward the shrine building in the clearing. It had felt like so much longer than that. Though it had been short, I had actually enjoyed our stay here; I found myself feeling disappointed to have to leave so soon.

"We're here," Harens' voice pulled me from my thoughts.

"Are you sure we can go back this way?" I asked, putting a hand over my necklace.

I still can't believe he talked me into doing this.I took a deep breath in an attempt to calm my quickening pulse. This will be the last time I'll ever have to go back. After this, I'll never have to see him again.

Haren nodded and took my hand, squeezing it gently. After a few moments, the trees around us blurred, and I squeezed my eyes shut. This time we had a much softer landing. Touching down with no more than a quiet thump, I opened my eyes to find that the two of us were sitting on the floor in my shed as if we'd never left.

"Can you wait out here?" I asked, turning to Haren as I stood up.

He nodded," you'll be alright on your own?"

"I will be the sooner I can get this done," I said, slipping out of the shed.

It was still pretty early, so there wasn't much light, but I was able to navigate the dim garden without too much trouble as I made my way over to the house, heading inside through the back door.

Like always, I had made sure to take the spare key with me when I left on Saturday to meet Haren, so even though it was early, and my father was most likely not awake, I could still get inside. That meant I could also grab my things and leave without even having to speak to him like I usually did.

As expected, my father was passed out on the couch, beer bottle in hand, and at least half a dozen more scattered around the floor and coffee table. When I crept past the living room, I could practically taste the stink of alcohol on his breath; I held my own until I made it to the stairs and hurried down the hall to my room.

Grabbing the nearest bag, I started throwing in clothes and rolling up posters. Walking over to the bookshelf, I selected only my favorite or most important books and carefully shoved them in the duffle. After grabbing some things from the bathroom, I walked back to my room to finish my packing. As I passed the bookshelf again, the white of fur caught my eyes. I picked the bear up from the shelf and sat down on my bed. The frame squeaked quietly under my weight. I set the toy down in my lap to look at it. The color had faded and the fur was tangled and worn from how much I had used it. Though not the toys' original purpose, I used it as something like a stress toy when I needed to. It had been the last gift my mother had ever given me.

I hadn't thought to bring the old toy with me, but holding it now, I couldn't bear the thought of leaving it behind. I'd held onto it all these years after all. I carefully set it on top of my other things and zipped up the bag. Well...tried. The zipper got stuck halfway.