Rose strolled into the bustling building site with a white hardhat, and a cheerful smile draped across her ruby lips. A man was giving orders in the distance. His name is Daniel Blasio, but he preferred to be called Mr Blasio. He works as a builder, and site manager and has over twenty years of experience. Rose had clicked with him from the moment they had spoken over the phone. She just knew that he was perfect for the project. Over the last couple of weeks, he had done a superb job, and they were making swift progress. She surveyed the Bothy; it looked secured although it needed a definite facelift but it was a start.
A shadow projected from the side of the building. Rose squinted her eyes struggling to see it before the shadow was gone. "Must be Tom." she whispered staring at the spot the shadow had occupied. Rose broke her gaze, and went about her business, helping wherever she could. She pulled another citation notice from under her windshield wipers as she left the site for the day. "This is quite shameful." Rose thought to herself before folding it up, and tucking it into her jacket pocket. She was on her way home when she spotted Tom walking on the side of the road. A little boy, kept hanging around the building site. Mr Blasio had chased him a couple of times but the boy kept returning, and started doing jobs around the site when he wasn't watching the men working. Rose never had any children, she was barren. However, she couldn't help but feel an attachment to this child. He didn't speak much from what she had been told, and when someone did try to speak to him, he would clam up before running off to do something else. She pulled up next the child pulling down her driver's side window. "Hello Tom." Rose spoke causing him to stop, and stiffen up. "Look dear, it's about to rain so, if you want, I can drive you home." she offered him. Tom shook his head before running off into the deep grassy fields. Rose sighed, watching him merge into the exapands of nature. All she could do was wait until he trusted her enough, and then she could get answers.
The locals in particular, were perturbed about Roses's project. The contractors, and other workers she'd hired received several threats on site, and through the mail because of the backlash. She had also received sanctions followed by other unfriendly letters. The entire situation became stressful but she had no choice but to proceed since she sunk her retirement savings into the project. When the local law enforcement approached the building site, and started throwing their weight about, that's when the seriousness of the problem dawned on her. From then onward, she decided to lawyer up, in order to fight fire with litigation.
The lawyers had clued in Rose that, despite, the threats that the locals had been dishing out, they didn't have a solid case against her. The only loophole that they could exploit, in theory, was if they declared the area a heritage site. If that happened, then Rose would not be able build on the site and the whole project would end up being shutdown. She passed this information onto Mr Blasio, who searched through the historical records and discovered that the place is in fact, hundreds of years old, so could easily be deemed a heritage site. In light of this, Rose, Mr Blasio, and Alexander sat in her living room devising a strategy. "So, how are we going to approach this situation?" Alexander asked. Rose recined her chair trying to think. They would need to keep the lid on the records they found until this project was complete. The only issue, aside from the other ever-present ones, was that they only had six weeks remaining before the project became financially unsustainable. To make matters worse, one of the locals had already set-up a hate campaign against her going as far as setting up a blockade on the road. She was forced to replace a tire after they quite generously littered the road in nails.
Looking to the others, Rose voiced her thoughts, "We'll do our best to complete the project before the six weeks is up. That's all we can do. Anything else, will just need to be dealt wih as it comes, my dears." The others nodded, uncertainty etched in their faces. She looked out of her window beyond Alexanders head at her flower garden. The pink roses drooped because of the rainfall but they retained their strength and vibrancy and thats exactly what she needed to do, retain her own strength and build the best Bothy those locals have ever seen.
Rose pulled up to the building site, so far, the roof had been replaced, and a new one was being fitted today. The weather had held out with sunshine, and a few drizzles from time to time. The builders diligently worked away. Seeing everyone so impassioned made Rose ecstatic, especially, after dealing with the setbacks they had encountered to get to this point. The windows were now fixed, each wall now reinforced. Rose checked her list. There's still the roof, the doors, interiors, and chimney to fix. They had six more weeks to complete the project before she ran out of money. However, there was no use in worrying about something she had no control over.Mr Blasio greeted Rose from behind making her jump "Hello Mrs Marley, I'm sorry if I frightened you."Rose smiled, "It's fine Mr Blasio. So how much progress are we making?" she enquire
Rose gently lowered herself onto a deckchair. According, to Alexander there was a shower of stars forecasted for tonight. Rose's father had worked as an astronomer back in the days before man had landed on the moon. She believes this is where her fascination in regards to the planets, and the universe stemmed from. Sometimes, when the pain from her hips overwhelmed her, she imagined her husband looking down at her from the universe. His presence had always eased her worries, and made her feel optimistic. Rose stroked her wedding ring; she never went a day without wearing it. She missed her husband terribly at times but his memory would forever exist within the banks of her memory. She leaned forward to get up since the clouds were rolling in and the air became icer. Her bones creaked, after a bit of groaning, and willpower she extracted herself from the chair. Rose went back inside turning off the porch light.
Once the perils of the storm had finished inflicting destruction upon the land, Rose along with Tom decided to drive down to see what state the Bothy was in, or if it still remained at all.They drove up to the site, puddles created holes in the fields. Rose and Tom stepped out of the car being careful not to stand in any patches of dirtied water.Once, they approached where the Bothy stood Rose and Tom halted in their tracks at what they saw. There, in all of its restored beauty stood the Bothy; completely untouched. Rose's heart soared, the fact that the project was completed, and had survived the storm combined with the obstacles was momentous. On top of that, she had managed to stay under budget. She let out a breath, her heart stammered seeing the area in its glory. Her lips curled up into a grin. She laughed as her dentures popped
Chapter 1 – Clarissa EscapesThe screen door was tattered to pieces, splotches of blood mixed with soil sprinkled across the uprooted daises that remained lifeless on the floor.Clarissa Gould limped away from the house dragging her suitcase barely zipped up with clothes bulging out of its sides. Her leg was burning, glass shards riddled her calf but she kept moving forward. She lived on the outskirts of the city, there was a service station at the border between her town, and the city and that's where she was heading. A car pulled up just a few feet from where she was walking, she felt her hand clench the handle of the suitcase as she quickened her pace, a trail of blood following behind her. Fear surged through her veins, it couldn't be her ex-boyfriend, he was near death when she fled. "It's probably just someone looking for di
Nothing compared to flurry of victory that overcame Clarissa as she reached a little shack in the mountains.Clarissa let her tears flow, she removed her shield long enough to allow herself to feel without guilt, and shame bullying her back into her shell. Each droplet cleansed her battered soul. She coughed as her body erupted with repressed agony, torment, allowing her fragility to breath for the first in years. She felt the heat from her body evaporate into the monochorme tiles as she blacked out from exhaustion.A man was whistling to himself as he strolled down the lane and entered his little Bothy. He dropped the logs in his arms upon seeing Clarissa passed out on his kitchen floor with cuts and bruises covering her body. He rushed to her limp form checking her pulse, it w
The mind holds so many traumas, a plethora of past lives, and it takes longer to heal but as Clarissa found out harder to heal.A psychologist's couch is where she sought refuge on this rainy April afternoon. Clarissa was hesitant to open up because saying what her ex had done out loud made her feel as if she were reliving the torture all over again. She looked to the clouds from between the slits of the dusty blind. The sky was powder blue mixed with the cotton shape of the clouds made the sky look like it was painted. During the silence that came after each beating, she often wished she could live in the clouds. She chose to believe that magical village existed in the sky that could only been seen from the corner of your eye. She was snapped from her happy daydream when the Psychologist cleared his throat."So, Clarissa, what brings y
A few days prior Clarissa received a letter informing that she was being called up to appear as a witness in a trial against her ex.She fixed her dress and combed her hair staring into her reflection. Today was the hearing and there was a variant of feelings coming at her. On one hand, her ex was getting tried and the karma he deserved but on the contrary, she would have to face him in front of strangers on top of keeping her composure. She felt a hand on her shoulder, Dean had dressed smartly for the occasion. He had been her rock throughout this process and such a wonderful friend to her. Clarissa's parents had flown from Alaska to see her. After, the trial her parents wanted to meet with her privately.Clarissa stood there stoically answering and retelling the judge an
Clarissa's morning had been notably productive. She had baked a couple of blueberry pie, scrubbed the bothy from top to bottom. Fixed the door hinge and reset the mouse traps. The timer dinged, and Clarissa tested the oxtail soup she was making for herself and Dean's lunch. The day overall was pleasant and placid for a change. She had taken a walk, and passed by some Donkeys on her way home. By the time Clarissa had finished her list of chores her feet ached and were starting to blister. She sighed removing her shoes, the cool floor eased the pain between her toes. The house seemed to be empty but Dean was probably out fixing the fences or getting some miles in before he went to bed but a thump from the other room killed that theory. She entered the living room; the TV was le