Her hip whined and hurt until it forced her to open her eyes and acknowledge it.
Yep, Anna, lying the whole night on your left side on a camping mat so you can keep your head on someone's shoulder will do that to you.
She turned on her back slowly so she wouldn't disturb him, moving her head a little bit where her neck was stiff. It must be really early still, because there were only small sounds coming from the campsite outside the tent. She knew she wouldn't be getting back to sleep any more, though. She really had to pee, as well.
God, but how inconvenient was needing to pee in the early morning? She scrunched her eyes shut in frustration and tried to will her bladder calm. There was nothing for it though, so she scrambled up and out of the sleeping bag, shivering straight away in the early morning chill. Then she tried to open the tent zip as quietly as she could, but why was it that these zips always produced pretty much the same amount of decibels as a jet engine, taking off from Heathrow? She felt the movement behind her and she knew he was awake.
"Hey. Sorry for waking you." she whispered. "I'll be back in a minute, just go back to sleep."
She crawled out of the tent through the dew-filled flaps, ignoring the drops that flowed onto her neck. She stepped into her wet Birkenstocks and gingerly made her way over to the building in the middle of the field.She saw that he was up straight away when she came back down the little steps. He was up and dressed, even, and he was fiddling with a strange contraption that she figured must be a stove. He was putting some sort of thick aluminium foil around the base of it, she guessed to stop the flame from blowing out.
"I figured you'd like tea." he said as he got up and hugged her tight. "Good morning, Anna."
"Good morning. Wow!"
She eyed the contraption. It looked like it was basically made out of wire, and it had clearly seen some use.
"Super lightweight, I'm taking it?" she said as she bent down into the tent to grab her purse. "I'll go buy some bread in the village, then?"It was almost strange, being by herself as she walked over the gravel paths towards the entrance to the campsite, the absence of Eli beside her tangible. She came past the reception and onto the narrow lane they had driven down the night before. The village must be to the right at the end, she knew. She felt light, as she raised her nose to the dewy morning air and inhaled deeply. The rain had passed, at some point in the night, leaving the air fresh, but the clouds hung low still.
She walked up a steepish hill past houses and a pharmacy, until she came to a small boulangerie. There were baguettes everywhere, in baskets by the door and in loaves behind the counter, but the thing that really caught her eye where the giant meringues that were plumply stacked in a glass show case next to the till. They looked scrumptious.
"Hallo." she said, feverishly trying to remember her O-level French. "Un pain, s'il vous plaît, y un meringue."
She was sure her accent had to be atrocious, but the woman seemed to understand her because sure enough, she reached for a bread and a meringue.
Go Anna!
She walked out of the shop with her bag of goodies just as a small old lady was walking slowly past the bakery to the right, a cane in her hand to help her progress. She smiled kindly at the lady and was about to turn left to the campsite when without warning the world disappeared on her again.Sunflowers grew quietly around the little white cabin, the swinging bench overlooking the fields still in the calm midday air. The hill had been high, sure, but she had found it now, and at last she could simply step in and greet her.
She blinked rapidly as the street came back into focus, the parked cars in front of her stark reminders of reality. The lady was gone and Anna ran down the hill as fast as she could, back to the campsite, back to Eli.
YOU ARE READING
Perception
ParanormalWhen psychology student Anna starts seeing strange things she gets caught in a whirlwind of danger and adventure. With fellow student Eli by her side, will she solve the riddles in time?