5. Anevae

Iworked until sunset before taking a much-needed shower and retiring to bed. When I woke up the next day, my muscles ached. Two days in a row of moving virtually non-stop was rough on my body, and it needed its rest. After getting out of bed, I threw on some comfy clothes again. My only goal for the day was to organize my bedroom.

Unplugging my phone from the charger, I found a message from Momma letting me know they had arrived home early that morning. I replied to her message, telling her I was glad they made it home safe, I loved them, and to get some much-needed rest after all their work over the last week.

As I walked into the kitchen, the sun shone through the uncovered windows, reflecting off the glossy black granite countertops. All the brand-new appliances were black to match, perfectly complementing the mahogany of the cabin walls and floors.

Once I was done eating, I cleaned up the kitchen and headed back upstairs to work on my bedroom. I filtered through the boxes that littered the room, piece by piece. They were filled to the brim with some of my most prized possessions, ones I would never consider getting rid of. There were too many good memories associated with them. Inside the first box was one of my many jewelry boxes. It contained the majority of the necklaces I had collected over the years, but I hadn't opened the box since I finished high school.

Pulling the doors open, I sifted through the necklaces inside. The first one that caught my eye was the necklace Momma gave me when I turned sixteen. When I pulled it from the jewelry box, the silver chain was cold against my warm hand. I held the delicate pendant close as I admired it. It looked similar to a teal rose, but Momma insisted it was an orletaylaer from Caellaias. Wiping the dust off the dirty pendant, I remembered the day Momma gave it to me.

I woke up on the day of my sixteenth birthday to snow blanketing the ground. It was a frigid winter day, the perfect weather to curl up on the couch with a warm blanket, some hot cocoa, and a nice book, which I'd do when I was done with breakfast.

As I sat up, the delicious aroma of waffles hit me. Momma's waffles were my favorite breakfast food. Excited, I launched myself out of bed and into the bathroom as quickly as possible before running down the hall to the kitchen.

Momma greeted me with a bright smile. "Good morning, my Little Lily. Happy birthday! I'm making your favorite for breakfast, but the way you rushed out here, I'm sure you could smell them."

"You bet, Momma! I love waffles! You're spoiling me for my birthday." I looked around for my dad and sister, who were nowhere to be seen, so I looked back at Momma, puzzled. "Where are Poppa and Eiri?"

Without looking back at me, Momma responded, "Well, Eiri is still asleep. You know she likes her beauty rest. But Poppa got called into work for an urgent matter. He will be back in a little while."

"Oh, that's okay. I just hope I get to spend a little bit of time with him today for my birthday," I admitted.

I stood there in silence until Momma shooed me off to the table. A few minutes later, she brought me two waffles topped with strawberries and bananas, my two favorite fruits. They smelled amazing, and my mouth watered in anticipation. As soon as she set them down in front of me, I quickly reached for the maple syrup, dumping more than I should have on top. Then, I eagerly dug in and devoured them.

Momma giggled as she pulled a small box from her pocket. "I have a special present for you."

Setting down my silverware on the plate and pushing it to the side, I turned to give Momma my full attention. I could see the excitement on her face as she handed me the box.

"I hope you like it," Momma whispered as I opened the box.

Inside was a beautiful silver necklace. The pendant hanging from it looked like a blue rose, but Momma explained, "This is the symbol of our family—an orletaylaer. My mother, your grandmother, gave it to me on my sixteenth birthday, and I wanted to give it to you on yours. And Lily, don't worry about your sister. I have something special for her on her sixteenth birthday as well."

I was in awe of the beautiful necklace Momma had given me. She grasped my hand as I went to pull it from the box. Looking up at her, I saw concern in her eyes. "Be careful about Poppa seeing this necklace, please. You know how he feels about Caellaias, and I don't want to upset him, but I wanted you to have a special heirloom from our family."

I rose to put the necklace away. If Eiri saw it, she'd likely ask too many questions. If Poppa saw it, he'd be upset and maybe even take the necklace away.

As I walked down the hallway, the door to Eiri's room opened, and she rushed toward the kitchen. Knowing she smelled the waffles the same way I had, I laughed under my breath.

The necklace was beautiful, and I cherished how it reminded me of my family. Since my parents weren't going to be around, I took it out and placed it on my dresser so I could wear it after I was done unpacking. I'd never been able to wear it before.

When I finished going through the jewelry box, I moved on, admiring the beautiful landscape as I went to start on another box. The tall aspens swayed in the light breeze, their leaves putting on a show while the deep green needles of the pines tried to dance in unison, but their stiffness wouldn't quite allow for it. The sky above was a gorgeous light blue with the occasional wispy cloud here and there. I opened the window to let in the delightful scent of the pine trees. Along with it came the trickling of the creek nearby and the rustling of the trees.

The black fox sat, staring at me, a few yards inside the tree line. It was a fascinating creature. Eiri had told me long ago that foxes were inquisitive, but this one seemed more so than I imagined. I knew the creature was curious about the new person that moved to its territory, but it was almost like it was watching me to see what I was doing and how I acted when it came around.

Inching back, I reached for my phone; if it didn"t run off first, I wanted a picture for Eiri. I continued to meet its gaze as I sat on the bed and tried to unlock my phone. The moment I took my eyes off the fox, it scurried into the woods.

Saddened that I couldn"t get the picture, I went back to my work, opening box after box of my belongings. Along the way, I thought of the good memories that some of my possessions brought up—more gifts from my parents, some of my belongings from my high school years, and even some things from my good college years. A few weren't very pleasant, but I worked hard through them and still graduated with honors.

When the sun began to set outside my window, I glanced at the boxes I had left. Thankfully, I was nearly done, so I stopped for the night, ate, and got ready for bed. As soon as my head hit the pillow, I was out for the night.