Baffled (NaNoWriMo - 12)

The house felt cold as I woke up and my nose itchy as if I sniffed at pepper. I felt like sneezing any minute. Nevertheless I had a good night's rest. It still must be early since the sun not shone and it was extremely quiet outside. I pulled my dressing gown off the chair on my way to the kitchen. It was pitch dark all light was gone. Day or night the house was always provided with a certain light, what caused it? I started making a fire but immediately it went out.
How to get light? I pulled the doors of the cabinet open. The bottles we brewed glowed like usual but before I knew a strong force closed the doors with a loud bang. I crawled into the direction of the storage room. Over there the situation wasn't different, it was extremely dark. Did someone cover the window? Carefully I shuffled through the room while I poked around in the dark. I counted my steps with my eyes closed and concentrated on what should be stored. As far as I knew it was all there. The second cabinet was closed. No matter how hard I tried the doors refused to open.
I faltered outside the room and managed to close the door. My nose still felt itchy. I needed something to blow it with.

No light, no fire, the cabinets shut me out and the storage room's window hid the view.

I sat at the kitchen table with an itchy nose, shivering for cold, without any idea what was going on. Did the dark come over us? As far as I knew the dark brought illnesses, suffering, disaster, and death. I took a biscuit out of the jar. It was the last one.

"I better check the front door if it allows me," I muttered.

I found my way through the kitchen into the hallway while I pressed a cloth against my nose. I sneezed and sneezed and had a hard time breathing. Whatever irritated my nose, caused the sneezing, was here. Tearing eyes in combination with a high irritated nose made it hard to find the door and listen to what was going on outside. Did I hear a sound? Was it some bleating? I held the doorknob in my hand and tried to listen to the sound. 'Baa' it was what I heard 'baa... baa'. I didn't think twice and pulled the door open. I no longer worried about the smell that filled the air, the cabinets shutting me out, the cold or the darkness that surrounded me. The 'baaa' did it.
In front of me laid three lambs. A few meters behind them stood someone surrounded by flames or was it set at fire?

"Take them, be fast, and close the portal."

Without thinking twice I pulled the three animals inside by their legs and closed the door. Outside had looked different from what it usually looked. What exactly happened?

"Come on little ones we better leave the hallway", I sneezed.

I pulled them further into the kitchen, while I kept sneezing, and managed to close the door to the hallway. Surrounded by three lambs I sat on floor and waited for what would come. I felt too tired and cold to think about what happened.

I must have fallen asleep. As I woke up it was warm and light. A fire was made, the kettle hung above it and a tray of freshly baked biscuits was left on the table. The lambs covered my legs and slept. I groaned. It was time to wash myself and get dressed, time to start the day but first I needed a cup of tea. I sat at the table and watched the little bird outside. There was light, everything was back to normal. It all felt like a bad dream.

------

Outside the world didn't change. The animals at the farm looked in great shape. I figured the lambs could walk and made them follow me by using some fresh biscuits. It turned out to be a good plan. They seemed to like me and were satisfied with their new stable. After they drank a bit they fell asleep.

"Lambs," a voice behind me said, "even black ones. They are rare."

Behind me stood one of the Titans. I couldn't remember his face.

"We met?"

He nodded.

"We did that day in the herbs garden you shrunk..."

"You were with many."

"You were alone and felt sad. How do you feel today?"

He smiled.

"I had a strange experience, I feel better now. I got older and grew."

He had a friendly face and seemed to be interested in what I was willing to share.

"We all did, you are not alone. I am Rick."

He bowed deeply while he took off his hat. His silver long hair waved over his shoulders. A short flash made him disappear.

"Nice to meet you, Rick," I mumbled.

For a moment I thought I felt a hand on my shoulder.

On my way back to the house I passed by the vegetable fields, the orchard, and the forest where 'the magic ones' had build their new homes. There wasn't a single sign of any darkness coming over us. Mother Nature, the animals, and her little helpers turned out to be in outstanding shape. On my way home I thought about Rick. It was the first time I felt curious to know more about someone I just met. If I thought about it he wasn't different from the rest. He grew, his hair was silver and gleaming, his eyes sparkled and... his name was Rick.

The house looked fine and even smelled nice. Not only after baked biscuits but the floors looked clean and a bouquet of herbs filled the air. My heart jumped, did Carmen arrived back home? I called her name, searched through the entire house but it was empty. Someone cleaned up the traces of the darkness, a person that cared but didn't show as I called out her name. Except for Carmen, only Rosemary could enter the house uninvited. I hadn't seen her since she left for her new home in the forest, a place I had only observed from a distance. Not one of them had reached out to me since they changed. Rick had been the first.

------

"There you are!"

Rosemary's voice sounded cheerful. She sat on the sofa as I returned to the living.

"Sorry, I left in such a hurry. You started reading."

I nodded and felt a bit overwhelmed by her appearance.

"No need to offer me some tea, dear."

"Okay."

I sank next to her and didn't know what to say next. She felt like a stranger after all those days.

"About your birthday..."

"I won't celebrate my birthday. Not if she isn't home."

"What an odd statement. No birthday because of her. Are you sure that's what she wants for you?"

She grinned at me and waited for my response. Was she playing games with me? Anger came over me, who was she to tell me what to do, I had to celebrate even if I didn't feel to it?

"Take that stupid grin off your face! Why don't you celebrate yours if you like to party that much!"

My face turned red, as red as the tomatoes we saved in a jar while my dark eyes spat fire.

"Amazing, " was all she said while she studied mad me and waited till I calmed down.
I did and we sat for a while in silence.

"We can't celebrate our birthday because we have no birthday. We didn't became older, to us, time didn't pass, that's why. I guess another of your burning questions is answered and if it comes to Carmen... She isn't gone but back didn't you see her?"

Baffled I gaped at her and shook my head.

"It's up to you my dear friend. You can celebrate or let it be but know... "

As she disappeared in a flash I could swear I heard her say "he absolutely likes you".

Total amount of words episode 12: 2,772
Total amount of words novel: 31,802

I posted the episode and deleted a part after two days. If you didn't come to reading the complete episode sorry for that.

#kittywu #freewrite #nanowrimo #nanowrimo2020 #story #forthechildren