A Walk In The Woods
Jean had finished speaking to Scott a few hours ago, but not for one second had his words left her mind. Nor Emma's from earlier. Feeling restless, she walked outside of the mansion and wandered towards the wooded area near the back of the property. In this reality there was no swing for the children to play on, nor the tree house some of the older boys had set up there. It was just empty and cold. Bare branches stretched towards the sky, dull and lifeless as her heart.
The man she had proclaimed to love for years was miserable. A woman who she regarded as a friend was as well. And all because of her own selfishness. If she had allowed her eyes to be opened earlier, if she had released him from the hold that she had on him, all of the current misery could have been averted. But she had foolishly held on. Even as their feelings changed. As she herself changed. It had taken extreme circumstances that placed her current situation in harsh perspective to make her change. Five years in another world. With other versions of the people she had always known. That was what it took for her to recognize her own self-centered behavior.
She reached a clearing in the middle of the woods. There were two paths in front of her, reminding her very much of an old poem she had read as a girl. She recognized the first one. It curved away from her and doubled back to the mansion. The other disappeared in another direction a short ways away, leaving no indication of where it would lead.
A touch of cold on her cheek drew her attention away from the contemplation of the paths before her. She tilted her head back, looking up at the sky as the first snowflakes fluttered towards the ground. Soon everything would be covered in a soft layer of white, cushioning the world, making it appear gentler and perhaps kinder.
As the snow fell around her, she remembered singing to her daughter, one of Rachel's favorite songs as a child had been an old Shaker hymn. Pulling her coat closer about her, Jean began to walk down the path leading away from the mansion singing softly to no one but herself.
No storm can shake my inmost calm,
While to that rock I'm clinging.
Since love is Lord of Heaven and Earth,
How can I keep from singing...?
The man she had proclaimed to love for years was miserable. A woman who she regarded as a friend was as well. And all because of her own selfishness. If she had allowed her eyes to be opened earlier, if she had released him from the hold that she had on him, all of the current misery could have been averted. But she had foolishly held on. Even as their feelings changed. As she herself changed. It had taken extreme circumstances that placed her current situation in harsh perspective to make her change. Five years in another world. With other versions of the people she had always known. That was what it took for her to recognize her own self-centered behavior.
She reached a clearing in the middle of the woods. There were two paths in front of her, reminding her very much of an old poem she had read as a girl. She recognized the first one. It curved away from her and doubled back to the mansion. The other disappeared in another direction a short ways away, leaving no indication of where it would lead.
A touch of cold on her cheek drew her attention away from the contemplation of the paths before her. She tilted her head back, looking up at the sky as the first snowflakes fluttered towards the ground. Soon everything would be covered in a soft layer of white, cushioning the world, making it appear gentler and perhaps kinder.
As the snow fell around her, she remembered singing to her daughter, one of Rachel's favorite songs as a child had been an old Shaker hymn. Pulling her coat closer about her, Jean began to walk down the path leading away from the mansion singing softly to no one but herself.
No storm can shake my inmost calm,
While to that rock I'm clinging.
Since love is Lord of Heaven and Earth,
How can I keep from singing...?