The Things Left Unsaid

I forgot all about Tyler and raced out into the winter wonderland filled with sparkling white crystals falling from the sky. The world was dim, as if it was nearing sundown, so the world had a beautiful glowing shine of snow.

I jumped into the first snow bank I could see and popped out, snow now covering my entire body. I laughed and giggled and made a snow angel.

When I had lived at home in Canada, I never much liked the snow. It was too cold and wet and stung my throat, but it had somehow become a part of me. I expected snow every year and I had never expected it to be one of the things I missed most about home.

After about a minute of my playfulness Tyler seemed to have enough, “Are you coming or not?” he grunted.

I just laughed and said, “Come on’! Don’t ya wanna play? Here, dodge!” I tossed him a snowball but I threw a little too high and it hit him square. in. the. face.

Of course my first reaction is absolute horror. I gasp and my cold hands cover my mouth. I’m about to sputter out apologies when the laughter kicks in. Not that it was funny that I’d surely be in deep, deep trouble, but the sight of Tyler standing there, his entire face just covered in white snow... I laughed.

I fell to my knees and held my aching stomach with giggles. I stumble over to him and manage to calm down enough to wipe off the snow around his eyes, when they open they are blazing with cold fury and I fall down on my side laughing once more.

The sides of my mouth are now cramping from laughter until Tyler wipes off his face, picks me up and puts me in the passenger's seat of his car and drives off. I’m still writhing with laughter as he drives off, and slowly I calm and fall into a light, happy sleep, curled up beside him in his car.

---

When I awoke the car was rumbling down the remote countryside, only fields and spots of forest could be seen in the world of snow. I yawned and stretched, turning to face Tyler whom was focused on driving. The sun had set but the world had a small bit of glow left, suggesting I hadn’t slept longer than an hour or so.

“We’ll be in town in a few minutes, take this time to wake up because I am not dragging you out of the car. Since you took so long we’ll only have an hour and a half before all the stores are closed, so be quick.” It might have been the sleepiness but the dim illumination of his face made him seem... handsome. His face was angular with softness to it and hints of black facial hair were fuzzy on his chin. His blue eyes glowed with intensity, but closed-off mysteriousness echoed in them as well. His dark, untamed hair was messy, but attractive as well. He wore a white shirt and dark, but neat jeans, not at all like his outfit when we had first met. He looked at me strangely and was obviously expected an answer.

I held my hand to my forehead and gave a salute, “Yes, sir!” I said with a mockingly deep voice like a soldier. He glared at me but I began to realize that’s all he’d do. I turned back to look out the window and gave another stretch. In the distance I began to see a few houses before we were surrounded in little, cozy homes glistened in white. We drove only for another minute until shops could be seen. A Laundromat, a Bank, a Grocer, a Bakery. It was all very local and tiny. Then I saw a McDonalds and a KFC and...

“TIMMYS!” I cried, my nose plastered to the window, “Can we go? Please please please?!”

“If you’re good and quick when we go shopping, I’ll think about it. Right now we don’t have time.” He seemed slightly amused at my eagerness.

“Where are we anyway?”

“Klydeston, Ontario.”

“I’m home.” I whispered. It wasn’t really my hometown-I’d never heard of Klydeston, but Timmies and Snow and... “Hey, it’s Giant Tiger!” I laughed as Tyler pulled into the store’s parking lot.

“Really?! Where?” Tyler said in a sarcastic voice. He parked and we both exited. I skipped up to sliding doors and into the store. I waited for Tyler at the entrance. “Now, get some clothes and quick. I’m on grocery duties, not babysitting.” and he stalked away. I couldn’t care less. I grabbed a shopping cart and started picking out clothes in my size. A cute red top, stylish blue sweater and at least six pairs of jeans, as well as more shirts and things were piled into my cart. Then I remembered what Hannah said about the blanket and I found a beautiful quilt comforter and a fluffy feather pillow with white sheets.

I was inspecting a nice beige jacket when Tyler rounded the corner and growled, “Where have you been? I’ve been looking for you for ages! The cashiers are closing!” We both raced down the aisles and to the last open cashier. It was a young girl, probably about my sister, Sydney’s age, with long blonde hair and bright red ends. “Sorry, I’m closing and that-” she glared at both our full carts, “will take ages.”

“Please, miss, we really need this ton-” I started but Tyler interrupted me.

“Just ring us in, neither of us have all day and we are not leaving until you let us pay for our things, unless, you just let us take our things, but I think that comes out of your paycheck...” he didn’t need to go on, the girl was already scanning our things, no matter how unhappy she looked.

It took us fifteen minutes to scan in all our things in, pay and get all twelve bags to fit in the car but when we were finally on the move (though I didn’t fail to remind Tyler to get us some Tim Hortons) .He got a large coffee and I got an large Iced Capp supreme and was very satisfied.

We rode in silence for an hour before we pulled into a driveway into a forest patch and pulled out in front of the entrance, complete with my snow angel. I helped Tyler unload the car and went straight to bed with my new blanket, nightgown and pillow. I dreamed of white light and glowing feathers.

---

The next week or so passed by rather quickly with nothing quite interesting happening. I tried to learn more about what exactly had happened to me and why, but everyone, even Brittanya, was keeping their mouths shut tight. After a few days I basically gave up hope and tried spending my time doing something else. Calli helped me quite a bit, actually, she could see that Hannah’s... bubbly nature had intimidated me so she took up the job of integrating me with the household.

Everyone had a chore to do on certain days and did them, though that didn’t bother me much. Life was a bore here, so anything to do, even washing dishes, was alright in my book. Keeping busy was more difficult than ever, but I managed to find little things.

I started drawing, simple sketches at first, but the more I practiced the nicer they became. It wasn’t like I had found my calling as a person or whatever, just anything to pass the time became the most interesting things in the world. I also began to read anything I could stand. Hannah tried to get me to try some Shakespeare, but if there was one thing more boring than sitting around doing nothing, it was looking up all the metaphors and dead words that were littered across his work. So, that wasn’t really a popular option for me. Charles had a few science fiction novels, and they were faintly interesting, but rather confusing to me. It was Calli’s romance novels that really held onto me. I’d sit on my bed for hours during the day just reading and reading, escaping from my life and hopping into a mystical, beautiful world of love. It helped me stop thinking of my worried parents and confused friends back home, what they must be going through. It wasn’t, however, helpful at forgetting Brian. Though he’d never been a large part of my life aside from my day dreaming and idle mooning, it still felt like I lost something that would have been so great.

At times it really was difficult to handle then anxiety and sick feeling that the thoughts of her friends and family brought her. It flooded my dreams, and while I lay in bed trying to sleep, silent tears were commonly seen falling down my cheek. So I kept busy, and kept to myself. The days passed in a blur and I had a hard time trying to keep up with the date. The only way I knew the day of the week was the chore chart, other than that I couldn't care less.

I had been reading a particularly delicious novel called Love Then First Sight which was a modern play on sleeping beauty about a beautiful woman put into a coma when she is hit by a car. Her spirit then roams the hospital ward, and another young man dying of cancer begins to dream of her. It was quite romantic and suspenseful. I was flipping through pages like a lumberjack through a tree or a pile of flapjacks. I was cuddled deep into the loveseat in the living area. The lights were dim, as it was nearing evening and people liked to settle down at this time before dinner was made. Tonight it was Hannah’s job, and she was an amazing cook. She had promised us éclairs and spinach ravioli, all from scratch. I could hear her working away in the kitchen from where I sat.

From the bedroom, I saw Leon emerge. He glanced at me and flashed me a quick smile as a greeting, then entered the kitchen.

Leon was an interesting guy; quiet and self-reserved I never did know what exactly he was thinking. He hadn’t spoken to me yet, at least not directly. I had heard him speaking to Hannah sometimes, but he just didn’t seem to be… apart of the group as an individual. He followed Hannah wherever she went (not that she minded) and I rarely saw him with the other members of the group.

Soon I heard the hushed voiced of Hannah and Leon in the kitchen, I was a little surprised at the slight urgency I heard from Leon’s voice but didn’t care much until I heard the phrase clearly “but Sally need to know…”. My ears pricked and quietly put my book down and silently walked over to the kitchen entrance, pressing my back against the wall and my ear as close as I could get without revealing myself.

“Shh… quiet Leon; she’s just outside the door.” Hannah muttered.

“Yeah, I know, but the longer we lie to her the more she’s going suspect something’s up.”

“That’s not for us to decide.”

“But you know David; he hates to bring the newbies in so quickly. But last time we waited then…”

“Still, Sally isn’t going to run off and…” Hannah stopped, I heard her sigh. “She’s not like the last time.”

“I know you like to see the best in people, love, but still… Jason wasn’t bad when he came here either.”

“Sally’s not like Jason!” I heard her protest.

“Okay, okay… I’m just saying… the things left unsaid cause problems.”

I heard the faint sound of a kiss, “We can trust David to do the right thing.” Hannah said quietly.

“Yeah I know but…” another sound of a kiss. I suddenly felt very intrusive and was about to get up and leave.

I looked up to leave but a dark figure loomed over me and I had to stop myself from giving a yelp of surprise. “Tsk tsk.” Tyler said, shaking his head before retreating into the bedroom once more. I scowled at him and shook my head, he was still a jerk.

I tried to simply forget about what I had heard and get back to reading, but the truth was it had only confirmed my fears. I had felt like something was up, something that I was having trouble putting my finger on. There was something up here, and I had to find out what-and soon. Because I just couldn’t shake this feeling of imminent danger.