I repeated the most mundane tasks, keeping life as simple as possible: wake up, shower, eat, go for a walk, read, eat, read some more, walk some more, eat again. Every day I told myself that after a good night’s sleep and a decent breakfast, I would leave in the morning. But the next day came and went. Soon the days turned into weeks and weeks into months until time stopped entirely. I didn’t think of my parents, or Boaz and Charlie, or even the vampire with the sorrow-filled eyes. I had become like the large oak tree that grew next to the cabin: predictable, steady, and unaware to life beyond its branches. Nora was my only visitor. She was an older, large woman with long brown hair that was always pulled back into a thick braid. Freckles sprinkled her ruddy complexion like cinnamon, and her bottom lip continually stuck out from a wad of tobacco. She wasn’t the most eloquent speaker and often cursed for no reason. I had never been around anyone like her before, but I grew fond of her straightforwardness and her plaid shirts and tight jeans.
