I turned back, watching as three men, two of which appeared to be in their late thirties, and the third elderly, step down and out of the first moving truck and join up with another five men that had followed in the second moving truck. Together, we brought in the newly bought appliances, furniture and the innumerable amount of boxes carrying our possessions from inside the trucks into their designated rooms, which was scrawled quickly across the top of each box.
What seemed like hours later, we had finished.
"Thanks, Jack," I heard my brother say loudly from the door. "It was really great of you to do this for us. It was quite stressful when no other moving company worked on such short notice." I watched as my brother paid the elderly man that stood before him. He was of medium height, with white hair atop his head, and a trimmed white beard to match. He seemed to be an honest, sweet old man that liked to do favors for those around him.
"Not a worry," he replied, his voice quite strong for a man his age. "Just glad I could help."
He took the money my brother offered him and shared a word of advice before stepping out the front door towards his truck.
"Just be careful, you two. Serenity isn't always found in the places you'd expect it to be."
I smiled in reply, his gaze shifting towards me. I liked this man. His words were filled with emotion, and it was clear that he was wise beyond his years, however old he may be.
"Thank you." I voiced as he turned to close the door behind him.
Jack winked as his pale green eyes met with mine.
**************************************************
Tired and just as quiet as we had been in the car, we both sat down beside one another on the dark leather couches we had bought, which had been made to look old and well worn in. We sat in silence, simply gazing around us at the sheer magnitude of our new home. Before us was a stone fireplace that arched upwards in an upside down "v" like shape, finishing right at the ceiling forty feet high above us. We found ourselves in a room where, to our left, about twenty five feet up the wall, a railed hallway could be seen, two oak doors on either end. Just outside each door, two wrought iron spiral staircases attached the wooden floor of the second landing to the wooden floor of the first.
Me and my brother looked at each other then, as if the same idea had formed in our heads at the same time.
"I get first pick!" We both yelled frantically as we pushed ourselves off the couch only to rush towards the staircases. He ran to the left, and I ran to the right, towards the staircase situated closest to the fireplace. We raced up the iron as quickly as our legs would carry us, our laughter making us feel as though we were normal again. I reached the second floor first, and with haste I opened the heavy door before me.
It swung open silently, and at that moment I knew, regardless of whatever was in the room Matt had rushed to, that this was the place for me. Straight ahead about six meters away, I faced a wall that was greatly opened with four rectangular glass windows, all etched around their corners with the same floral pattern, and etched in the center with crisscrossing diagonal lines that formed equal diamonds. The walls of this room were covered with the same bricks that had been used to cover the fireplace, and facing the windows on the opposing wall to my left was a dark brown stained mahogany four poster bed. The bed itself was hidden behind the dark olive green curtains that ran along all four surrounding sides.
I was breathless.
This was perfect.
The color scheme on the inside of this room ranged from anywhere between the light beige, brown and rust colors in the bricks, to the olive painted wall to the left and right of my bed, to the dark olive green curtains around my bed, to the classic oak stained wooden floors beneath my feet. A range of warm, welcoming colors flowed before me, all coming together to give the perfect atmosphere and safety to the room.
Stranger [Part III]
Start from the beginning
