“Wynona? Are you alright? You’ve barely touched your tea”, Henrik asked, breaking the dark silence. Wynona snapped out of her thought, lowering the photo she had been looking at for some time. “Oh, yes, honey…” she replied, but her eyes wandered off of him. Henrik noticed this and gently asked her to be honest what was on her mind. Wynona couldn’t tell him, the words seemed to get stuck in her throat. “I see”, Henrik said, his voice carrying a tone of understanding. “I should get back to work…” Henrik placed his hand on Wynona’s shoulder. She turned her head to him. The rabbit smiled gently to her. From his face she could read he knew there was something about the girl in the photo that bothered Wynona’s mind. “No, honey. I think you should take a breather and get some fresh air. I can help your parents with the festivities - they won’t mind.” Wynona smiled gently at him. She gave him a hug and got ready to go out.
The outside air was cold. A gentle wind blew, the light from the moon and stars lit up the snow faintly. The only other light in the dark was the warm yellow light shining from the house. The road wasn’t yet plowed after the snowing earlier in the day. However the wind had blown some of the fresh snow away.
Wynona walked in the snow. Her mind was still plagued by her thoughts. Perhaps Henrik would be right, perhaps the fresh air would ease her mind, but it didn’t seem to have any immediate effects, as much as she had hoped. Step after each other she wandered down the familiar snowy road. She passed the old trees and houses of her childhood village. Both of them, she and Freya had loved wandering around in the nature.
Sadly now all that felt like a distant memory, overcome by the saddening thoughts. Poor Freya had suffered a lot - some of that were in her own hands, however too much of it was just out of her control. Wynona knew this. And after years when Freya had finally, accidentally, found Wynona again, it seemed like they were just too different, incompatible. And worst of all, Wynona had seemingly moved on. Perhaps it was not fair to push Freya away, but she didn’t want to give her the wrong idea. Perhaps she should have reached out for her. At least she wouldn’t have to be alone for the holidays.
The flakes of snow shined and gleamed in the moonlight. Wynona’s regretful thoughts were momentarily broken as her eyes fixated on a curious thing: steps wandering off of the road and into otherwise undisturbed snow. Although the steps were half covered, they were clear enough to be followed and led through a narrow opening in the trees. Wynona knew where she would be end up if she followed them. There was a slope overlooking an abandoned house. No reason for anyone to go there. Still she felt an urge to go and have a look.
