Sway With The Wind

Chapter 14 - A tale of waiting

As El closed the gate behind her, her senses heightened, attuned to the slightest sound in the stillness of the night. Just as her trembling fingers reached for the latch, a voice cut through the silence, halting her movements. "Wait," it urged, sending a shiver down her spine.

Frozen in place, El strained to hear, her heart pounding against her ribcage like a caged bird desperate for freedom. With each beat, her fear ebbed away, replaced by a sense of clarity that washed over her like a soothing balm.

"Elena, wait!" The voice called out again, its familiarity piercing through the darkness like a beacon of hope. In that moment, she knew. It could only be one person who addressed her by her name.

"Dad?" El's voice wavered as she spoke, a mixture of relief and apprehension mingling in her words.

As her father stepped into the faint glow of the porch light, El's tension melted away, replaced by an overwhelming wave of gratitude and love. With trembling hands, she reached out to open the gate, her eyes brimming with tears that mirrored the emotions swirling inside her.

"I am sorry, dad," she whispered, her voice choked with emotion. "I didn't realize it was you."

In that simple embrace, surrounded by the comforting warmth of her father's arms, El found solace amidst the shadows of uncertainty that had engulfed her.

As El reached for his bag, a flicker of movement caught her eye, a fleeting shadow dancing behind the veil of darkness cast by the nearby tree. With bated breath, she strained to discern its form, her curiosity piqued by the enigmatic figure lurking in the shadows. But before she could unravel the mystery shrouded in the cloak of night, her father's voice shattered the stillness, jolting her back to reality.

"Why were you startled? You didn't hear me calling you," her father's concern etched into every word, his brow furrowed with worry.

"It's nothing, dad," El replied with practiced nonchalance, her words a shield to conceal the tremor of uncertainty that rattled her composure. "I had my earbuds in, didn't hear you properly."

Yet, despite her reassuring facade, El's mind remained tethered to the shadowy figure that lingered in the recesses of her consciousness. Who could it be, lurking in the shadows, a harbinger of salvation or calamity? The answer eluded her, veiled in the cloak of night, leaving her to grapple with the unsettling uncertainty that loomed over her like a looming specter.

As El's father arrived for his first visit since her move, she eagerly anticipated showing him around her new home. However, his priorities lay elsewhere; he insisted on paying a visit to her grandmother first. Though El's father had only met Mrs. Shaw a handful of times during her illness prior to moving in, they didn't know his true identity before. Despite his desire to keep his identity concealed, El's father felt a newfound freedom in being able to openly visit them now that El was aware of the situation.

Upon their arrival, they found Mrs. Shaw already asleep, her frail form a stark contrast to the vibrant woman El remembered. Though he harbored unresolved feelings stemming from Tasha's revelations, El's father couldn't help but feel a pang of sympathy as he observed Mrs. Shaw's deteriorating condition. Despite his reluctance to engage in conversation, he couldn't ignore the drastic change in her health, a sobering reminder of the passage of time and the toll it had taken on her.

As El's father caught up with Simmy about Mrs. Shaw's care, El found herself unable to shake the feeling of unease that had settled over her since spotting the shadowy figure earlier. Though she scanned the surroundings for any sign of the mysterious presence, she found nothing but the stillness of the night. Yet, with her father by her side, she felt a renewed sense of courage, a flicker of hope in the face of uncertainty.