Later in the day Adam found himself on a stone bench in a clearing of the garden.He smiled as he watched her move around the garden, getting excited at the littlest things. He admired her, loving how she could see the beauty in every aspect of the frozen oasis. Even when the flowers were dead and the hedges were brown, she saw that with a little white dust on top it had it’s very own cold beauty.
The statues and bird baths and stone decoration became almost alive in her eyes. It was almost as if she were in a castle and every one of its inhabitants had fallen into a deep and empty sleep, so long they had forgotten to live, waiting for winter’s prince to come and kiss it awake into spring.
Plucking a dead flower from a gather of long gone Brown Eyed Susan’s she brought it to the hand of one of the statues who now seemed to offer it to another as Adam watched in fascination of how Belle seemed to be in her own little world, dancing around the empty garden as the snow began to pile around their feet, catching in her hair and eyelashes, laying itself upon her shoulders and the tips of her boots.
Eighteen and still acts like a little kid. He thought absent mindedly, as the sun began to dip behind the trees over the high stone walls.
“Belle?” He called. Her head popped out from behind another pair of statues, “Do you want to go back inside now?”
Quickly, she shook her head, “I’m good.”
He laughed, rising to his feet and moving towards her, “It’s getting dark.”
As he approached she ducked away, scurrying down another path, behind a row of hedges, “Oh well, we'll turn on the lights,” she called behind her.
Chuckling, he jogged to keep up with her, turning the corner to find her disappearing down another, “You’ve been out here for hours aren’t you cold?”
“Nope!” He heard her shout from farther in the garden, he was losing her.
“Belle, would you stop running?” he pleaded, breaking into a run now, trying to get back to her.
“Only if you can catch me!” Her voice was now even farther away, he was surprised at how fast she moved. His mind briefly flashed back to his dream was the night before, her yell always in the distance but no matter how far, how hard, how fast he ran, he was never able to catch. A small sliver of fear slipped through him, what if he never found her.
But, no, that was silly, this was the garden, the only way out she could use was the way back into the house and that was exactly where she did not want to go. This was just a game to her, he told himself, he would eventually find her, he would always find her.
Stopping, he listened for her, but the only thing he could hear was the gasping of his ragged breath, no slapping footsteps, nor her own breath.
“Belle?” He called, then listened, but nothing came, “Belle!”
He broke into a sprint now, looking down every pathway, every turn, every corner, every nook and cranny, yet he could not find her, “Belle!” He yelled again and again, panic rising in his chest.
It was his nightmare all over again except he never heard her scream or ever indicate where she was.
“Belle this isn’t funny any more, where are you?!”
That’s when she stepped out from behind a hedge, eyes big, face flushed, hair tangled and wind blown, the nearing twilight casting shadows upon her small figure.
He lunged forward, sweeping her up in his arms, lifting her feet off the ground and crushing her to his chest, hiding his face in her hair, “Don’t ever do that to me again, you scared the crap out of me.”
He felt like a mom who had just lost her child in a grocery store but at that moment he could care less, the fear of losing her had been all too real.
She was still for a moment then began to struggle, “Adam, I can’t breathe.”
He loosened his grip on her, placing her down in front of his, but did not let go, keeping his hands on her shoulders, “I thought I’d lost you.”
Confusion flashed across her face, a hint of annoyance, “You physically can’t lose me though, I’m kind of trapped here.”
“I know but what if I didn’t find you out here. What if you fell and hurt yourself, what if I-Belle, just please don’t do that.”
The look in his eyes was so sincere that she could not help but feel bad, reaching forward, she pulled him back into a hug, “I didn’t mean to scare you.”
Wrapping his arms around her back, her rested his chin on her head, “As long as you’re safe,” then he paused, “Do you want to see that surprise?”