Featherless Bird

The next morning, when she woke up, she knew this was going to be a good day. She didn’t know if it was because the sun was shinning again or if the scent of pancakes that was coming from downstairs had made her crazy, but she just knew it.

When she arrived downstairs and saw the sight before her, she gasped. Carolyn stared in awe at the Christmas tree sitting in the middle of the living room, boxes of decorations scattered around it.

“Like it?” Wade asked; walking into the room with a smirk plastered to his face.

“Like it? I adore it! When did you go get this?” Wade chuckled, going back into the kitchen while Carolyn followed him, still glancing at the tree every once in a while, as if to make sure it hadn’t disappeared.

“I went to get it while you were sleeping. We’ll decorate later or something. Do you want pancakes?” Carolyn nodded and then there was a plate full with pancakes in front of her. “Now, enjoy these. You know how I hate to cook; this is probably a one-time deal.”

Carolyn nodded again, her mouth full with the delicious pancakes. She had no idea Wade could cook this well, mainly because he almost never cooked. They always ate things that were incredibly easy to make, but from what Carolyn knew, he had made these from scratch.

“So, how are they?” he asked, while washing some dishes.

“Freaking delicious.” Carolyn replied, her mouth still stuffed with the wonderful food.
Wade laughed, yet again. He was in a wonderful mood that day, something that made the girl happy as well.

"Alright, leave me some. I didn't make them all for you." he said, while pilling up some pancakes on his own plate. Carolyn gave a muffled response, which only made Wade laugh again. "I have to go to work today though. I'll have to leave in about twenty minutes."

"Okay. I'll try to make supper since you made breakfast then." Carolyn replied, grinning as Wade looked at her horrified.

"Even if you do manage to not burn the house, I probably won't eat your food." Carolyn feigned a hurt expression on her face, but sadly, the man saw right through it.

"Get off of it. You know I'm right." she scoffed before going to put her plate in the sink, her stomach full to the brim and her heart quite happy.

"You know, I'm kind of glad you don't make breakfasts like this every morning." Wade looked at her questionably, still munching on pancakes himself.

"I'd become sick. It isn't healthy to eat this much." the man rolled her eyes at her while Carolyn smiled. It was probably one of their first conversations that they had without neither of them getting offended or starting to yell.

Maybe it was progress, Carolyn thought, maybe he would let her go eventually. She willed herself not to think about this though, for fear that she would let her hopes get too high.

But as she looked back at Wade, she knew he wouldn't let her go. She tried not to think about this fact, she didn’t want her morning ruined.

"What are you looking at?" Wade asked, and Carolyn shook her head as she realized that she had been staring.

"Nothing. Just thinking." he frowned a bit at her, but decided not to poke around, something for which Carolyn was very grateful for.

"Alright, well I have to go. See you later." Carolyn nodded as the door opened quickly and then closed, leaving her all alone once again.

Carolyn did her usual that day, which consisted in cleaning the house. She made the beds, cleaned up a bit, did a bit of laundry, cleaned the floors, all in less than three hours. The latter saddened Carolyn a bit, before cleaning would take her almost all day, but now she was done so early. It had given her something to do but now she was pretty much deprived of that.

She sat in front of the TV again, but nothing was on except lame re-runs of crappy soap-operas and the cooking shows that showed you how to prepare things but no one could actually make them. Carolyn started to think about what she could do for supper, no matter what Wade had said she was determined to make an edible supper, just to prove him wrong.

She looked around for a while, but finally she had to come to the sad truth. There were absolutely no cookbooks in the damned house. The girl sighed as she looked through the pantry and fridge. Ideas popped into her mind of what her mother and grandmother used to make, but she had never asked them how they made it. That was something that she regretted terribly, and she promised herself that if she ever got free, she would take up cooking.

With that in mind, she looked around the room once more and decided that she wouldn't be making something that took more than fifteen minutes and went back in the living room. The tree still stood majestically above everything, grazing the ceiling.

Wade will have to trim that, Carolyn though while staring at it.

A flash of light directed her attention to the box of ornaments sitting there, while at least three more boxes were also in the room. Carolyn decided to look into all of them, curiosity peeking out of his tavern again.

In the first box there were decorations for the tree, all different color and sizes. Carolyn knew at that moment that the Christmas tree wouldn't match, but she could've cared less, she had never liked matching things anyways.

In the second box there were lights. And by lights, it meant dozens of strips of lights. The lights varied from just clear, to colored, to big and small, to blinking and everything in between. She had never seen so many different lights in her entire life, and she couldn't wait to start putting them in the tree.

As Carolyn opened the third box, her smile faded a bit and she felt her eyes moisten. In the box there was a Christmas wreath beautifully decorated. It was made with real pine, and had chestnuts and small ornaments in it as well. It was the exact same one that her mother had before she had passed away, a long time ago.

She couldn't believe he had found one which looked exactly the same. It was a terrifying coincidence, more so because Wade had never met her mother, or not that she knew of. But as much as a coincidence it might have been, it lifted Carolyn's spirit a bit. She believed it was a sign from her mother that things were going to be okay, and that she was there with her. It sounded crazy, but Carolyn couldn't find any other explanation. She had never been much of a religious person, but this seemed like a clear sign from the above.

So, she sat there with the wreath in her arms, just thinking. Her mother had been one of a kind. She was probably one of the sweetest, caring women this world had ever seen, or so in Carolyn's mind. Yes, sometimes she could have her moments, but after that she would always come apologize. Everyone loved her; she had that charisma that followed her everywhere, something that Carolyn as an awkward child had been jealous of. It didn’t matter though, because her mother was her best friend. And then the worst time in Carolyn's life arrived, the day she found out that her mother had been killed in a car accident.