Alice had laughed her joyful laugh and turned to her, putting her gloved hands on her cheeks and said, ‘What if we actually save the world?’
Alice stood up on shaking legs. She was someone who always looked for the bright side, and had always assumed the best, not the worst, was going to happen. Yes it was idealistic, and there would always be plenty of things in the world to try and prove her wrong, but she was damned if she was going to lose that part of herself entirely. It was time to save herself.
This was a storm, she could handle it. Marco was fully trained and would be back soon, and she’d coped with worse than this. She needed to step up now and do the best she could.
Alice moved away from the door and led Bear over to the sofa. She lit the wood burner and the warm glow filled the room. Trauma wasn’t going to get the best of her; this other living soul who depended on her was.
‘Come on Bear, let’s go and sit over here. We’re so safe and warm and snuggled in here, aren’t we?’
Bear paced, looking back at the door, and whined a little more.
‘Come on, puppy,’ she coaxed. Eventually he sat half on her, his woolly bum heavy, then he slid down until he lay slumped against her. His ears were still alert, as were hers to be honest, but he seemed to calm. And in turn, so did she.
When the thunder couldn’t be heard any more, and the wind had died down, Bear lay his head down on her lap with a sigh. He looked up at her with his big amber eyes, safe in the knowledge that they were both there for each other.
