Iron & Wine

Iron & Wine-Chapter Three: Home Away From Home

Chapter Three-Home Away From Home

I awoke in my bed. After one look around my much too bright room, I moaned in agony. For once, the morning sun was not welcome in here. I pulled the duvet up over my head and attempted to get back to sleep. But, the smell of banana pancakes and freshly brewed coffee filling my bedroom was enough to get me up. Slowly and carefully, I emerged from my cocoon and made it for the door. The rest of the house was even brighter. Damn windows, stupid open concept. I moaned and plunked myself down in a chair at the table. Tess looked at me and chuckled a little.

"Coffee, please," was all I could manage to mutter. She poured a mug and placed it in front of me. Inhaling the wonderful, rich aroma, I sipped cautiously. I didn’t know how this would react with my stomach. I seemed to be fine so far, so I continued. Then I remembered the fountain dream.

"Did you push me in the fountain last night?" I asked accusingly. "And what the hell was with the dust?"

Tess looked at me nervously, examining my face. "I didn't push you in; you fell backwards off the edge." She was such a bad liar; it literally looked like it was painful for her to say. "And the dust was an old legend. I got it from the same friend who makes the wine. She said that it was for protection or something. Sorry, I didn't mean to get it in your eyes," she apologized while placing the pancakes in front of me hesitantly. " It wasn't last night either. You slept the whole day and night yesterday, it's Sunday."

"What? How drunk was I?" I cried. "Tess, I can't believe I wasted a whole day, and I can't believe I fell in the fountain! How could you let me do that?" I stopped yelling and tried calm down; my head was suddenly spinning like crazy. "I’m sorry, it must have been pretty hard to carry me all the way back to the house," I apologized.

"Nah, it wasn't so hard," Tess claimed with a smile. "You could afford to lose a couple of pounds though," she teased as she sat to join me for breakfast.

We ate while planning my moving strategy. I was going to take the Vespa while Tess led the way in the Mustang with all my belongings. I would go and wait at the park while she dropped everything off at the apartment.

"It's not fair that even you got to see the apartment before I do," I complained as we left the house. “Julie wouldn't even tell me the address. All she said was that it was close to school.”

"It's a surprise Avery, accept it. You worry way too much, Julie has everything under control; it'll all be worth it tonight, trust me," she assured.

Tess led the way on our drive into the city, as I did not know where to go. I eyed my school coming up on the left, so I knew we were close. Soon enough, we stopped at a park barely five blocks away. Tess got out of her car, came over to me, and told me to stay there while she brought my things to the apartment

"I'll be back in fifteen minutes," she promised.

I leaned against my Vespa and listened to music while I waited. My skin was a little chilly from the cool night air and the warmth from my bike engine felt nice against my side. As I glanced around, I realized that the park was something extraordinary. I examined the acres of thick forest ahead, and the winding multi colored stone paths that intertwined and eventually led into the trees. The tall sky scrapers and blurry buildings far in the distance created a halo of iron, glass, and lights above the trees, in a contrast to the magnificent park in front of me. The scenery felt as though it didn’t belong here in the center of the city. Old twisted trees lined the perimeter and their soft green leaves filled in the spaces like strategically placed draperies. It was absolutely magical, and I was excited to know I would be living near it. As I continued to admire the dark forest, I noticed a strange shadowed figure. It seemed strange because it was not the form of a person. It had the height correct but the shape was all wrong. I walked towards the tree line to get a better look but the figure disappeared before I could even blink. I shook my head in disbelief, blinked twice, and looked again but it was gone. I'm not sure what just happened, but it still felt like I was recovering from my night in Tess’s garden. It must have been that, that’s all, I assured myself. But, then I heard a slight whisper come from woods.