Part 4

It was odd to be back in my old room. It had, of course, been undergoing a change over the months, the wardrobe now filled with my summer clothes, giving room for the winter things at the Hall. I had brought enough winter things to see me through the holiday. The four of us had Christmas Day at home, me giving my parents and sister their gifts. I had been to the shops on the way home from the Hall and had them gift wrapped in the shop. I wasn’t fully girl, just yet.

The Awakening
A Vignette
By Maryanne Peters

She woke to the sound of music. They had rented the “La Villa Musica” for a month just to soak up the Adriatic Coast, and simply because they could afford it. He was not lying beside her in the bedroom with the view. The windows were open, and the curtains moved with the warm sea breeze. The music seemed to be coming from the lounge – from the grand piano.

Marching in time with his fellow recruits Mirek tried his best to ignore the bitter wind that swept through the mountain valley. It wasn't easy. Gritty snow that was more like sand peppered his face, frost hung from his eyelashes, and his woollen scarf was icy around his mouth. His fingers felt brittle, as if the bones had turned to ice.