Winter.It was Faustina"s most hated time of the year. Everything was frozen, cold, and grey. The sun was barely peeking into the thick gust of dim clouds, and the trees weren"t blossoming nor are plants bearing their fruits. Faustina did not like winter for many reasons. It reminded her of a distant memory she could barely remember.
The feeling of a cold surface in a lonesome place.
And winter had taken her back to that certain feeling.
"I"m going to go to town to get some supplies," Eula said, patting Faustina"s head. "Really sorry, champ. I . . . kind of forgotten some things to buy. So stay put here, alright?"
Faustina nodded. "Okay. Take care, master."
She was in the age of rough age of ten, but she wasn"t getting much taller. Eula often told her that she looked younger than her actual age. "You actually look like seven," Eula remarked, "that isn"t an insult, alright? You just need to eat more so you would grow into a fine, young lady." However, her master also said that Faustina"s small stature may be because their milk supply is lacking. It was true; the town just beneath the mountains barely even had fares of their own. Milk would be found only when the cattle had enough milk for the town to latch onto.
These circ.u.mstances made winter excruciating than it already is. Usually every winter, their food supply would often be reduced. Thet would also eat the same stew for a week, and the same hard bread for days. But who was she to complain? Faustina was more than thankful that she had it easy with Eula. She was happy that she was able to have a roof under her head, and someone looking after her. Faustina did not mind hiding into a secluded mountain.
In the rough length of the first year she was with Eula, Faustina slowly learned to be more comfortable around the place. And that meant she was confident enough to explore—yet not as confident to speak. She was a child, after all. A ten-year-old child barely with any memory of anything. But a child is a child, with a curiosity that is needed to be satiated.
When Eula told her to stay put, she couldn"t. She wandered around the cabin, looking at Eula"s potions. But she couldn"t really reach them now. Faustina had a notorious record of breaking the vials and spilling Eula"s concoctions, which is why Eula had taken precautionary actions and safekeeping. Faustina opened the cabinets but there was nothing but only wooden table wares and whatnots.
For several minutes of searching for what to do in the cabin, Faustina was able to come back empty-handed. She sat on the floor, looking at her small hands. The dark strands on her hair fell and covered her face. She held the strands gently. This black hair was the reason she was being hunted. These night-colored locks. Faustina wanted to get rid of them from the start, but they only kept on growing.
The door opened as a sudden gust of wind entered the cabin. Faustina blinked several times as she noticed a ball bouncing towards her. The ball rolled to her feet as she promptly stood up.
Faustina tilted her head, holding the ball now. It was bearably cold, so she was able to hold it. Faustina ambled to the opened doors to close it, but she was startled by a certain boy standing in front of her.
The sun.
Her vocabulary wasn"t that wide at that time, so Faustina could only recall her thoughts about the boy and the sun. She stared at the boy"s hair—the distinctive color of the sun, and eyes the color of the sky in spring.
Faustina couldn"t remember most of it, but she was certain she recalled the boy running back outside with her following behind. The memory was getting fainter and fainter, but she knew that she had fun at that time.
She remembered following him until they have reached a certain part of the forest. He was a child, just like her. Faustina, at that time, didn"t even think twice about following him. He had eyes like that of jewels, and they gave off a warm feeling around her—like that of summertime. Maybe that was why she followed him blindly. It was because he looked like the sun.
Faustina did not like winter, which made it more viable for her to follow the boy. He smiled at her, "do you play here often?"
To which Faustina did not reply to.
The boy was her age, not older than ten. Faustina then noticed that she didn"t put on a coat as she shivered. A snowflake then fell to her cheek as she glanced upwards to the skies. It was still cold, even if the sun was at her side now. It was odd, seeing another person again. But she wasn"t scared because he was a child too. Faustina only feared adults, after all. But children, such as herself, did not impose any threat to her.
Not that she had seen one.
Which is why this boy she was with had fascinated her, to the point that she had forgotten about what Eula had said (whatever that was). The only thing in Faustina"s mind is that she found what the children in the books called a "playmate". She breathed to her cold palms, trying to heat them up. Faustina knew her nose was turning red. Eula told her that she shouldn"t stay long outside because she had a weak frame—which turned out to be another reason why Faustina disliked winter.
"Here,"
Faustina couldn"t remember the color, nor the designs of the cloth. But she remembered the warmth that enveloped her small body as the boy wrapped his coat around her—it had the faint smell of lavender and a scent that belonged to the boy himself. Faustina tilted her head in confusion. Why is the boy giving her his coat? Won"t he be cold instead if he did?
"Let"s play again, every winter, in this exact spot," he said, leaning closer to her. He was three inches taller, Faustina"s head reaching just his jaw.
His lips pressed gently against her forehead as he wrapped his scarf around Faustina"s neck.
"Let"s meet again," he said, "my fair maiden."