Opening up...

I was starstruck. I'd heard about, read about and have even seen pictures of this mansion, but nothing beats being here to see it with my own two eyes. There was a massive pool with Aqua chairs sitting on the edges. The mansion had a wall of floor to ceiling windows on the first floor and a multitude of windows lining the outer wall, meaning there were a lot of rooms. There were small bushes that led to a gate on the side of the mansion.

"Hey, where does that gate lead to?" I pointed over to the gate. Anne got all gittie and squeezed my arm.

"I had a garden put in for you. You're father told me that you loved the outdoors when you were a little one so I wanted to do something nice for you. There aren't a lot of places within walking distance from the mansion so I wanted to bring what I could home. Come on let's get you settled and then you can go see your special place." I nodded my head and then she pulled me away towards the front door. The door was black with a glass doorknob and a gold peephole. Everything seemed so unreal. Before Anne could open the door it swung open. A made wearing a black dress and white apron. She was as tall as I was, but only because of her heels. At least someone was at eye level with me.

"Welcome home! I'll have someone get the bags at once and show you to you courters." she gave a bow and gestures for me to follow her inside. I step inside and stay close. The inside was beautiful. There was an diamond encrusted chandelier hanging from the ceiling, red carpeted stars and the wall of windows let the sun light up the room.

"How about we see your room now? I'm Fred." I turned around to see a tall man with what I call, 'resting stank face'. He looked at me as if he were repulsed by my presence. I nodded my head unable to say anything that wasn't rude. He gave a slightly annoyed sigh, turned and began up the stairs. I followed close behind. At the top of the stairs he turned to the left and continued down a wide hallway. There were beautiful works of art on the wall, but none that i'd ever seen before. One in particular caught my eyes. A painting of a girl in a white dress standing in front of a beach. She held a sun hat and covered her hazel-blue eyes from the sun's rays. Her long blonde hair waved in the wind. Honestly I feel like I know this women somehow I looked over to the corner of the painting to see the name Alexander stitched into the painting. He'd painted this? I turned to continue to follow Fred to my room. Unexpectedly he'd been waiting for me.

"I'm so sorry that I kept you waiting. It's just that these paintings are beautiful and...the women in that he painted looks very familiar." I peeked over my shoulder once more at the painting.

"Yes, I suppose she would. Alexander painted that picture of you. We thought we were getting a girl and wanted you to feel welcome. We meant to take it down, but Anne said we shouldn't because he worked very hard on it for you. Now if you don't mind...this way child?" he turned back around and began to walk. I followed closely and didn't look at anymore of Alexander's art. I couldn't think of anything other than that one painting. He thought I was a girl? Fred stopped abruptly and turned to the right were a black door with golden spots was ajar. He turned to face me and motioned for me to enter the room. I walked past him and opened the door. When I stepped inside I was surprised to find a room completely designed for a little boy. The walls were a dark navy blue with glow in the dark stickers plastered across the walls a ceiling, the bed was a dark blue with with sapphire pillow cases and there was a desk and chair on wheels. I couldn't help but snicker at the stuffed animals on the bed. They were the exact ones I had when I was little. I walked into the center of the room and turned in a circle to get a clear view of everything. There was a huge flat-screen T.V on the wall, there was an open door that led to a personal bathroom and i'd spotted my luggage set neatly next to a walk in closet.

"Amazing. He does realize that i'm not four anymore, right? I guess twelve years really is a long time." i'm snapped back to reality by a knock at the door. I whipped around expecting to see Fred but instead was standing face-to-face with Alexander.

"I wanted to see if you were settling alright. The garden is ready for you...i-if you wanted me to take you there?" he seemed nervous about something. "Did you see the painting?" his question caught me off guard and the air got caught in my throat.

"Uh...um. Yeah, I saw it on my way to my room. Fred told me about the misunderstanding. It's really no problem, honestly. I get that a lot." I threw my hands up to show that I bare no ill will against him. The art was amazing, so how could I be angry?

"Are you sure you don't mind it?" I nodded my head made my most convincing face. He smiled and gave a small chuckle. I guess the face I made was silly. "Let's go to the garden."

"I'm right behind you. Lead the way, maze runner." we started down the halls i'd just come down and back down the stairs. We walked through a large empty room where our footsteps echoed. The ceiling looked as if it were higher than all of the rooms. Soon we reached the other side of the room and the sliding door that was the exit. When Alexander opened the door there was another behind it. I was confused until he opened the door and the garden was behind it. This whole place felt like nothing more than a dream.