The same routine, year after year. She took the same items out at the beginning of December and put them all away again a month later. In between, she was just as alone in her flat, just as lost in her writing. Except this year she'd done something different, more adventurous. She'd gone to the fitness centre and learnt something new. This was a new year and full of the possibility of new adventures. Maybe next Christmas wouldn't be spent alone or with a few neighbours. The next might be in London, or perhaps even farther afield than that. Wherever it was, she would make sure she had company, and interesting company at that. Someone like Sebastian or Myron, if not one or both of them. After gazing at the decorations in the box a little longer and trying to work out how long she'd had some of them, she closed the flap and took it to the spare room. It took a little effort to get it to the back at the top of the wardrobe, but with some pushing and shoving while standing on a chair, it slid back into its old spot.
