Gemini

Nyx

My dreams have never made much sense, and neither did this time. I think I dreamed I was locked in a small room, near what looked like a lake, while a storm raged outside.

My brain would make psychoanalysts happy.

Anyway, very quietly I woke up and, with a certain amount of disappointment, realised I was alone in bed. «Well awake. Someone here likes to sleep a lot huh?» I heard him say softly. «Maybe, it's always very nice to sleep» I replied as I rubbed one eye. «Come on, I've prepared something to eat». Baffled, that's the only adjective to describe the me of that moment. He had done what? And I thought I was getting little sleep. «Nate, you didn't have to disturb yourself come on, we could have done it together as soon as I woke up» I told him still a little shocked. «As much fun as watching you sleep might have been, I thought maybe I should make myself useful somehow» he replied, smiling at me. Yes, that morning we had breakfast with exactly what he had prepared, and I'm telling you: it was something I could have got used to. He explained that he had woken up rather early and since, as tempting as it might be, watching me grimace in my sleep was not exactly productive, he had decided to prepare breakfast for both of us. He had gone rather classic, he had decided to make pancakes, but since they were one of my favourite things for breakfast it was a big success.

Out of the blue, while we were having breakfast, Nate made me a proposition that I couldn't refuse: «Hear me out: why don't we go for a walk downtown? Maybe we'll find something nice» he suddenly proposed. «You know that's not a bad idea at all? Give me a second to get ready and we'll go out».

I still find it hard to accept that I was never going home that day.

I got ready in a few minutes, opting for an all-black outfit: simple but elegant. When I returned to the living room I was surprised to hear him compliment me: «Ellie you are really beautiful, you look really good» he told me, blushing a little.

«Keep some compliments for yourself too, flatterer. We are both a stunner today, as always after all». My words managed to wring a laugh out of him: «Well» he said laughing. «Then we'd better go and be the envy of everyone, n'est pas?».

It was in this spirit that we left home, with the joy of two great friends who, despite being away from each other for a good part of the year, manage to enjoy every moment they spend together. Despite the weather being awful just the day before, the sky was clear that day, and those timid rays of sunshine that occasionally reached your skin, even if only slightly, managed to warm your soul. «Ellie, I can tell you're happy from miles away you know? Both your eyes are shining with joy» Nate said, smiling at me. «It's so true you know? I love this kind of day» I said spinning around with my arms wide open. «Come on let's hurry» I urged him. «Maybe if we're lucky we'll find the ice rink open already».

So we walked towards the centre of Andúnë, leisurely strolling through the still deserted streets. I had heard a few days earlier that the mayor had decided to allow an ice-skating rink to be set up in the town's central square for the winter holidays. I was looking forward to skating for the first time. My house is not particularly far from the centre of Andúnë, in fact it took us only ten minutes to reach Flowers' Square, where a beautiful wisteria had been planted a few centuries ago and had grown really big over the years. During the flowering period, it seemed as if we were living in a fairy world by the spectacle the tree gave to those lucky enough to see it.

Not far from the wisteria, to my delight, a skating rink had actually been set up.

«Come on, hurry up Nate!» I said all excitedly, taking him by the arm to spur him to walk faster.

«I get it, I get it Ellie. Luckily there aren't many people, it'll be a lot more fun that way» he replied as we proceeded at a steady pace (my bad) towards the rink.