Six: A Fresh Start.

ELIANA.

SIX YEARS LATER.

My eyes settled on the untamed flames of the bonfire and even with the warmth that emitted from it, it was still a cold night in the mountains of Tuscany, where I’d stayed for the last six years.

There was a rumble in the skies above me, preceded by a bolt of lightning that struck the earth. The breeze was cold against my skin, grazing through my hair which swayed left and right.

I folded my arms with a jacket over my shoulders. Until the rain started to pour, I wouldn’t go back into my tent, I resolved in my head. It had rained heavily here each night for the past week. And although it was hard to believe the Tuscany mountains were a real place, they really were.

I had to see for myself when I stumbled here one random day six years ago after journeying halfway across the earth in search of a home. There wasn’t one quite as welcoming as here. But the weather said otherwise.

Of course, I had found ways to cope but still, on some days when the harsh winds wou