Unconditionally Conditioned |

•☯︎︎𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝟸☯︎︎•

     After putting the groceries away, and all afternoon, all Alice could think about was what her mother had said. Curious she decided to peer out of her front door in hope she could catch glance of this new person. She cracked the door open, just enough so that she could see over her balcony, to her surprise there he was, he had just loaded his arms up with various boxes and bags and was on his way towards the apartment complex. Alice went back inside and closed the door. 'Maybe today was the day' she mumbled to herself. She wanted to go for a walk anyway so maybe she could do it on the way. She harnessed up Milo and attached his lead, she made sure her phone was charged and her headphones were close by and put them into her rucksack that hung lazily over her dining room table. She hoisted the bag onto her back and grabbed his lead, followed by her house keys that was sprawled out on the kitchen counter, her door self locked so she didn't have to worry about locking it behind her, yet she still checked...5 times. She took a deep breath and left her apartment, taking one last glance behind her to make sure everything looked the same before she left.

She made her way down the steps, Milo following close to her, her mind was clouded with various plans as to how she was to approach the stranger but she soon snapped out of it when she was greeted with a bump and an 'ow'. She snapped out of thought when realising what she did. The strange man she was contemplating heavily on how to approach had just collided with her due to her careless efforts with staying focused. "O-oh god I'm so sorry!" Alice panicked, covering her mouth with her hand, the man let out a quiet chuckle whilst shaking his head, 'it's okay, is this how people greet each other here?" He joked, his voice was deep and hoarse something about it seemed calming yet intimidating at the same time. Alice laughed nervously, "My mother told me you had j-just moved here so I thought I'd come say hi... so hi" Alice said, avoiding eye contacted, "I'm Alice" she added, "well, hi Alice, I'm Jason" he smiled back. He noticed the dog at her side and saw that it's harness had 'therapy dog' written on the side of it, he decided not to pry and quickly averted his gaze back to Alice. "I-I'm just about to go for a walk, it's just the forest behind the apartments, not that you asked but I-I just thought I'd let you know so that you didn't think I was leaving abruptly." She rambled. Once again, Jason let out a light chuckle, this time understanding why she may be rambling. "That's okay, I better finish moving in and getting settled anyway, enjoy your walk, it was nice meeting you!" He smiled before picking up another box, Alice waved in reply before spinning on her heels in the direction of the forest.

After a brief walk along the nature path behind the complex, Alice reached her most favourite part of the forest, the big oak tree that was laced with various ponds and streams, it truly was a sight for sore eyes. Alice became giddy when realising she had made it to the tree and propped herself down beneath one of its large branches that swooped down towards the grassy bank that the tree embedded in. She sat there for a while before briefly nodding off.

About an hour or two had passed and Alice awoke to the sound of bushes rustling in the distance, spooked by the sudden movement Alice was ready to go home, as much as Alice wanted to stick to her usual route, she couldn't help but want to see where the noise was coming from, 'maybe it was a bunny' she thought, after walking for what seemed like a while, Alice realised that the noise stopped a while ago. It wasn't long before she came to the realisation that an intrusive thought got the better of her, soon enough, Milo began to whine as he knew what was about to happen.