Isla.

Isla collapsed on the couch, tired. She looked at clock, it was five in the evening. She had been dusting the house since a little after lunch and the cleaning had taken an entire afternoon.

She looked at her hands, they were dirty because of the dust. Getting up from the couch, she went to the bathroom. Switching on tap, she lathered the soap on her hands, it changed its colour from white to brown. She watched as she washed her hands, the dust slowly washing away with the water, disappearing just like her old life. It was on her hand and now no one knows it even existed, not even she, herself.

She got out of the bathroom, closed the door and realized she had forgotten to hide the box. The cardboard box that had made her so nostalgic. She ran back to the bedroom, and saw it lying on the floor, just as she had left it.

She sighed in relief that she had remembered to hide it. It would caused a lot of trouble if her husband would have found it. She picked it up and placed back into the broken wooden flooring, then carefully replaced the wooden panel over it. She had discovered this hidden place one day when she had tripped over it and now she uses it to hide her things.

The box contained things from her past life. A scarf, a broken musical box and two novels, Wuthering Heights with a bluebell flower hidden between its pages and fairy tales for young children with a letter inside.

She had carried these things when she had run away from her home.

The white scarf was originally part of her reception dress, but she had used it to hide her face, prevent people from recognizing her.

She picked up the fairy tales, it was going to be a gift for her younger sister for her seventh birthday. Inside it was a letter that described her favorite stories from the book. Every story had a happy ending and she wanted her sister to believe in them. Like she used to. Now, she realized how many lies were written in them, the biggest of all , everyone gets their happy ending. There was no such thing as that.

She picked up the musical box, it was her mother's gift to her when she had turned one. It used to help her sleep. It was the closest thing to her heart, and now she had to keep it hidden.
The wood had embellishments in gold. Inside was a ballerina and a neatly folded photo of a family, two girls dressed as Scottish princesses standing with their parents. In the background were the mountains that reminded her of the open country she had grown up in. Open and free, wild, that was how her life used to be, unlike now. Now, she was trapped in this building, like the princesses from those stories.

The bluebell flower in Wuthering Heights grew in the meadow outside her house. Her favourite time was when the flowers were in full bloom when she could lay in the grass and watch the clouds fly in the sky. She loved seeing the open skies and feeling the cool breeze. Birds would fly, making so many formations. Some days when things wouldn't go right, her sister and she would make imaginary shapes with the clouds and forget all their woes.

Now, all she saw was buildings instead of open fields and meadows. There were no imaginary shapes in the clouds anymore and there was no escaping from her woes anymore.

She remembered how she used narrate the story of Rapunzel to her sister, not knowing one day her life would become like that of the character. The only difference was, she was saved by her prince, Isla was locked in the tower by her prince.

She stood again in the balcony and watched the grim skies. The sun had began to set, the birds were flying back home and the city was lighting up. A gentle gush of wind blew her hair on her face. As she tucked them behind her ear, she winced in pain. The bruise on her cheek had grown painful and her black eye had grown darker.

****
So, here was a small insight in Isla's life. A Scottish girl who had run away from home and now is stuck in a toxic relationship.

But how did it all happen? Why did she run away? Keep reading to figure it out.

As always, if you enjoyed the chapter, please press on the star button to vote. Share it with your friends and comment down below about your views and thoughts. I always love to hear from you all.

Love,
Alice.

****