CountryCore Series: Her Lady of the Lake (WLW)

Distractions

Trinity sat in her workshop staring down at the dresser drawer in front of herself, yet unable to touch her tools or it. She was trapped in her thoughts, held prisoner by them. So many different things pervaded her mind and she let the gentle acoustic music coast her through them all.

The first was that she actually did care about the kid. Why else would she do so much to make him feel even the tiniest bit more comfortable in his current circumstances? It was such a strange and perplexing emotion, but one Trinity couldn't avoid any longer. Not when she knew it was a lie to keep up this ridiculous charade. She did care. That wasn't changing any time soon and she found herself eagerly awaiting the doctor's arrival.

Hopefully he can take him to the children's ward. Get some medicine into him before he gets too much worse.

The second was the way that woman's skin felt beneath her own and Trinity still couldn't even remember her name. Why did she always have to be so bad at remembering names? She only kept calling her ma'am. How embarrassing was that? Yet, the softness her voice and hands held was staggering. Trinity wanted to hear those dulcet tones so much, but for the life of her she also felt she may have at some point. She just couldn't recall where or when, no matter how much she racked her brain for some semblance of further recognition.

The last thought was why the heck she was going out of her way for anyone. Trinity couldn't figure it out and it terrified her. She knew that even when her words held conviction, they came out in such a lame voice. No one could possibly be afraid of her or even take her seriously. Yet, that woman had.

Trinity held her hands up and rubbed them together trying to remember the feel of the woman's arms in them, but heard hesitant footsteps not too far away in the direction of the backdoor. She'd left both the garage door that led to her long driveway and the backdoor leading to the backyard open to let some cool air in as she usually got hot when working and hated the noise of fans rattling over her music. It was an open invitation to those people next door, no doubt.

They were quite the presumptuous lot and Trinity turned toward the door ready to tell the footsteps source that they weren't welcome, but found the boy peeking around the backdoor into her workshop. He was wearing the oversized clothing she gave him, quite a bit cleaner aside from his matted hair that she felt the strange need to clean, and staring at her workbench. There was more color to his cheeks and she smirked as his eyes widened. He grew stiff as a board and gulped as a deep blush graced his cheeks. Looked like that steak was working perfectly, and Trinity turned more toward him.

"Want to w-watch...?" She asked as she pushed the workbench out a bit, letting him get a better angle.

He flitted his eyes up at her and eventually nodded after a staring match she feared may last forever. Once he did, Trinity turned back to her workbench and began chiseling away at the wood. She could hear him getting closer as Agnes Obel sang from the speakers, but didn't look up. If she did, he may run and she just wanted to make sure he was at least okay after he ran away when she returned from her neighbors earlier.

Just like that, Trinity's mind drifted to the way they treated her and she groaned, biting on her bottom lip as she fought back tears. It wasn't her fault people were always so hesitant with her, but still, for all those people knew before she approached them, the kid was hers and she was treating him badly. Whether it be her unsteady voice, the scar she held on her face, or even the fact that she made absolutely no attempt to be sociable, people all reacted the same. The fear of the unknown or unusual would do that to you, Trinity concluded.

However, she didn't want that woman next door to believe she would hurt a child and had even told her what was going on. Why had she done that? To make matters worse and equally puzzling if not more, she couldn't figure out why the heck she was tearing up. Well, if Trinity saw her again, she would tell her and her friends to get lost. Although, this time she would try to do it in a more challenging voice.