Anabel McIntosh

November 02, 2007 12:51 PM

A Walk In Autumn by Anabel McIntosh

September had passed by in a breeze with October following right behind it. The weather, which had been excessively warm and dry had remained quite the same, with the temperatures drastically dropping only at night. She missed the humid heat of Georgia. This dry Arizona air was nothing it was at home. Everything around her crackled and there was little green to be found. Except for the gardens.

The gardens, Anabel had quickly discovered, had some sort of a charm on them that allowed the vegetation to grow steadily. It was a nice change from the practically dead Arizona terrain. Anabel, for one, was used to ancient oak trees full of Spanish moss. To the green grass that she could sit in for hours. To the wild flowers and her mothers immaculate gardens. She missed it all. And while these gardens were nice, they still mainly consisted of hedges that formed some strange labyrinth.

Anabel made her way through the weaving paths at a sedate pace as she searched for a decent spot to take a seat. Taking a seat on the ground was out of the question, as she was bound to get her robes dirty. Also, it didn't help that every bench she came upon was occupied with some person or another. Turning a corner, she spotted a bench just down the way that was presently unoccupied. Picking up her pace, she quickly closed the distance and took a seat.

Finally! She had her own space. It was horrid having to share a room, especially with the likes of Renaye and Laurie. While she had remained cordial, only offering false smiles and simple comments in passing, she found their presence especially irksome. It was as though she was stuck in some alternate universe with Tweedle-freak and Tweedle-freakier and she couldn't get out.

Shaking her head in consternation, Anabel silently wondered if this was going to continue for the next seven years. If they all were going to keep moving in and out of the room, blatantly ignoring half of her roommates. Anabel was used to being surrounded by people. She was used to being adored. It was difficult to imagine that her roommates felt the same utter dislike for her as she did for them. She had always done everything in her power to give people the best impression of herself. She knew that politics and religion were never brought up at the table and that ladies never discussed sports because of the dissenting positions. It was simple. The rules were finite.

But hardly anyone seemed to care. Looking down at her neatly manicured nails, Anabel sighed deeply. She was sure that this was some sort of a test of character. If she could deal with these freaks of nature and come out on top then she would be able to deal with anything. Shaking her head in determination, Anabel chanced a look around the gardens only to notice that someone was approaching...
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