The Story Of Sarelle (Twilight)

Chapter 7

Change is the only constant - Proverb

I had yet to open my eyes, but I could feel that the air was hot and sticky. My skin was already heating from the sun that beat down upon me.

I didn't want to rush my senses, so I inhaled to wake up my sense of smell without opening my eyes. The air was thick with the scent of dust, gun powder, and something that smelt like alcohol. There was also the pungent fragrance of horses and hay.

I finally let my eyes open to the bright sun that I had felt moments ago against my closed lids.

The sight I saw was a lot more comforting than the last time I had jumped. The sky was a clear, endless blue - nothing but the bright pulsing sun interrupted it.

The ground was a mix of reddish orange dust and dirt which flew up in the air when a slight breeze flitted over it.

I seemed to be standing on the outskirts of a town. Wooden buildings rose from the ground in varying heights. It wasn't quite the regimented structure of Chicago, but it still showed it was a town with a society of its own.

From where I stood I could see that the flat ground stretched out in all directions. It was interrupted now and then by trees, or patches of grass that seemed to act as fields. Farmland was dotted on the expanse of land a little outside of the town's outskirts.

However, it wasn't the fields or farm buildings that caught my attention. Out in the distance I could just about make out a large cluster of tents, hundreds of them situated on the flat ground in varying colours. That was the only detail I could distinguish, but I felt that they were more than just travellers' tents.

I pushed aside my pondering. I had to adapt to this place, and that would mean changing my clothes as soon as possible. Although my thin hessian smock dress from the asylum was ideal for the temperature here, it also had the name of Newalk Asylum printed on its fabric. I didn't want people seeing that and assuming I was an escaped lunatic.

I scurried quickly across the dusty, hard ground to an alley between two buildings. The faint smell of pine drifted off their wooden walls. My hair was still dirty, and I knew my skin was in no better shape. I quickly removed the soap I had in my bag and washed the skin that would be on show using water from a tin trough by the side of the building.

I scrubbed at my hair to clear it of some of the grease that had built since it was last washed. I swiftly rummaged through my travel sack for something suitable to wear. I found a sun dress Elizabeth had bought me. It was white cotton with a yellow sash that passed around the waist.

I removed my dress and switched it for the light cotton fabric. The sundress fell softly to just below my knees, and the collar was decorated with small yellow flowers. It made me feel feminine and exactly like the young girl I was.

My hair was wet, but I knew the heat of the sun would soon dry it into its natural form of blonde waves falling down past my shoulders. I packed my possessions back into the large sack and hauled it onto my back, creeping out of the alley way into what seemed like the main street of the town.