The Descendants | KTH | ✔️

Chapter One - Find the Owl

The sky was very calm today. Clouds with a hint of grey in them rolled by, but the sun was beaming down on the lake in front of me.

I sighed, and closed my eyes. This was a rare moment of peace.

The sound of the waterfall on the far side of the lake made me smile, there was something about hearing the sound of the water falling off the edge of that cliff, crashing down joining the lake waters below that always cleared my mind.

It was a sound that spoke to a different side of me, and I wasn't sure what. It made me also feel a sense of purpose, and again I really didn't understand why. It was just one of those sounds that made me feel at home.

For as long as I could remember, this lake and waterfall had been my home. There were twenty-one summers I had spent here most days, feeling the warmth of the sun, and the blooming flowers around me.

I thought back to the summer I was a twelve, and I could remember the laughs of my parents, as my Dad splashed at my Mom from the edge of the lake.

The memory that followed after, made me squeeze my eyes a little tighter, and I took a sharp breath in as I felt my mood shift.

I felt the cool wind brush my face as I opened my eyes, and immediately looked up at the sky, because the shimmer on the lake from the sunlight had disappeared. A handful of clouds had gathered around it, a threatening colour of grey.

Pushing the mood away, I turned around and began walking back to the cottage.

As I looked down at the ground, the vibrant green grass and purple tulips made me smile, and only a few seconds after, I saw my shadow appear on the ground in front of me as the sun came out from behind the clouds.

I snuck into the cottage, it was only just the time that my Uncle would have gotten back from his hunting session he done most mornings.

We lived off the grid. My Dad told me once I started asking questions, onto why we never left this place. His only answer that he always gave was, "it's not safe, Erin"

And my Uncle says the same thing.

I knew my Uncle had the best intentions, but he had completely shut me out. He was hardly at the cottage, and only appeared in the evenings to eat, and then go to sleep.

But he would come back most afternoons to start prepping that mornings kill, before going away again.

It just wasn't safe. And as each day went by, I wondered more and more if that statement was true. But then the crashing image of my Dad echoed around my mind as I was crashed back to reality.

As I walked into the kitchen, I saw the large pot of meat, and thought that my Uncle had obviously been and gone.

I busied myself with books, the one thing I did know about, is that my Uncle encouraged my mind to learn as much as it could handle. We had a whole side on the cottage in the living room dedicated to books, and even in my bedroom they had even more space.

It was strange knowing about the outside world, when I hadn't even left this cottage and forest.

Life never changed.

Sighing at myself, I ate something quickly before going back outside. I tended to my garden, and as always, the sun was shining down on me each time I done this daily part in my routine. They made me feel very alive and full of energy.

I put it down to the fact on how much nature was a massive part of my life, the only other entertainment I felt apart from my reading, was this forest. The cottage was always full of the flowers I brought in, along with the fruits and vegetables I had grown.