The Plan Part 3

I ran my finger over the embellishments, the embroidered signature. I flipped through the ruled empty pages and took in the detail of the stitched pages.

I felt inspired to write, yet as I turned it to the back cover, my fingers shifted along the pages and cover with tingling hesitation to fill this journal. My story was going to end. The question was going to be how.

"Thank you," I said.

I looked over at Annie. I could tell from her shaking arms and shifting eyes that with the memories of our parents being brought up, the talk of destiny, this new revelation, Annie's paranoia and anxiety triggered.

"Don't worry Annie. No matter what happens, everything will be okay," I said with a newfound confidence, because I felt like if this was destined, then there was a purpose in it. She smiled at me, but it was a sad smile. I knew she still scared.

Annie looked toward the broken window. "Well Grandma, I guess we better get going now before it gets dark," Annie said.

Grandma waves and said, "Okay, angels. Annie, Nils? Live in the present. That's all we can really do. No one knows what the future holds for any of us."

I could almost feel Annie's heartbreaking, I knew she was hoping for more reassurance. Before we stepped through the door, however, Grandma whispered a few words over us and patted us both on the top of our heads, sending us on our way. We each gave her a kiss on both of her cheeks.

On our way back home, we walked hand in hand. It was a silent walk. We both had a lot on our minds. It was a lot to process. And we were tired and thirsty, so we were glad when we saw the top of our thatched roof coming into view.

As we neared the house, we also saw Joel coming back from his hunt, hauling the carcass of a bear on his back as he carried it around the back to remove the fur before taking it inside.

"Great, looks like dinner is here." Annie said, as if glad for the distraction from her thoughts. Though, that bear was dinner for an entire week if we wanted.

Joel would sell some of it. That way, he always had a reason to hunt. We made our way inside and immediately went for the drinking water, gulping it down as if water was some magic potion created right at that moment to bless the inside of our bodies.

Mutually, we let out a vast sigh. We were so enthralled by the water we didn't hear Joel step in from outside with the now hairless bear.

He chuckled. "What did you two get up to today?"

We jumped at the sound of his voice. "Annie and I made a few stops to visit friends and grandma."

Annie walked up to Joel, giving him a kiss on the cheek. "Hi. Your parents send their love."

She tried to move around him, but he grabs her wrist and asked, "You okay?" Their eyes connected on that question. There was a pause.

Joel acted like he was just a simple hunter, but deep down he was able to glare beyond the wall Annie had put up. He was able to tell she was not okay right now.

Annie grinned and replied, "Yeah, it's just been a lot today. I'll tell you more about it later. I'm going to go wash up then make dinner, okay?"

"Yeah, okay. Nils." Joel said, acknowledging me with a nod.

He took off his hunting gear and moved toward the water himself, sighing deeply as his thirst was quenched. Then he sat in his large chair. He could hardly keep himself awake. He knocked out in a few seconds.

I found myself filled with an overwhelming appreciation for him, for working so hard to bring home dinner. He had done it, so that my sister didn't have to, although she certainly could if she needed to.

I'm glad she didn't have to, and he was the reason for that. My urge to smile came full circle as I found myself suddenly admiring those qualities in him and actually felt motivated to go hunting myself.

I sighed. Would you look at that? I wanted to go hunting. My guess was that death pushed people to the edge where they asked themselves what if I could have done this or that, or anything else for that matter.

I inhaled and smiled at the prospect, for I was looking at it. The chance to live my life, that is what moved me to action now. The trek to my room was a short one, but it carried the weight of the books I carried.

The fate of one who lost hope and the fate of me expected to finish this story. I closed the door and took in the scope of the room. My eyes wavered awake from a shot of tiredness. A short nap would be nice, I guessed.

I laid the books on the table next to me and laid there, looking up on the roof. My eyes closed and sleep came peacefully in the swing of my long day, now gone at the setting of the sun.