The Lost Element

Chapter 2

Ardiel awoke, the sun beaming through the deep purple curtains covering her window. She lay there momentarily, thanking the gods that her nightmare didn't come back. She looked around her room briefly, examining the grey walls. A Billy Talent poster was hung on the back of the oak wood door, an acoustic guitar in the corner sat beside a television. She reached over to her cellphone, charging on the grey bedside table, and checked her notifications. She had a text from her coworker, Amy, asking to switch shifts, a Facebook game notification and an email notification from the post office saying that she had mail.

She replied to Amy that she didn't mind switching shifts. It was already 9am, and she liked to get her work out of the way earlier in the day. She would have to head to Piazza Jo's for 12 noon if she didn't want to be late. Ignoring the ever so annoying Facebook notification, she read the email from the post office over. They were never very specific, just a notification of mail arrival.

Her door creaked open. A black snout sniffed the air in her bedroom, and a large white dog's head poked in, asking permission to enter. 

"Brise!!! Come here girl!" The husky looked like a puppy in a toy store, galloping over to Ardiel's bed, jumping up into it with her. "Oh you big sook, someone is happy to see me!"

She had Brise for 5 years now, since she was a pup, and it had been love since first sight. Brise was the ideal dog, supreme loyalty, obedience and just a pure heart. There's a beauty in dogs that you see rarely in any other being. They don't judge or hate, they see you for what you are and love you no matter what happens. That meant a lot to Ardiel, as people aren't so kind. Brise wouldn't look at her differently based on what had happened in her life, or the way she dressed, or that she was a loner; she would always look at her with the same glint in her eye.

"Do you wanna go for a walk?" Brise lost her mind, just like she did every time you used that word. Walk, drive, even "let's go" were quick and easy ways to get the husky riled up. Pouncing up and down as if attempting to drive a nail into the ground with her paws, she ran to the bedroom door and back three times before Ardiel even had her black jeans on. Her favorite pair, they were torn at the knees, but they were worn in like that and not purchased as such. She threw on her dark grey fly-away shirt, finished dressing herself and started toward the bathroom. Brise blocked her way looking up at her as if to say "You said we would go!"

"I gotta brush my teeth, pup, we'll go in a minute okay? Is that okay with you, ma'am?" Brise ran off up the hallway towards the main door.

"I'll take that as a yes." 

Ardiel walked into the bathroom, cringing at the cold floor and hurrying to get her feet onto the obsidian black braided rug. Once satisfied with the warmth of the rug, she looked up into the mirror. A set of light blue eyes stared back at her. So light was the blue, in a quick glance they would appear grey. She looked upon a fair and smooth complexion, high cheekbones, and a sharp chin. Her eyebrows arched over her eyes in a delicate fashion, they had a slight thickness to them. They were the same color as her mid-back length hair; so light was the shade of grey that it was nearly white. Thick and smooth, her hair had been the envy of many girls her age; which she didn't exactly appreciate. 

As if they needed another reason to shun her. It used to be a luscious almond brown and she adored it like that, just as her eyes used to be darker than sapphires; after it changed color everyone assumed she dyed her hair for attention and used contacts. The truth is, she doesn't even need contacts or glasses, so why would she wear them?

Shaking off the thoughts of the criticism she used to get in her school career, she rinsed her mouth out of from the toothpaste and brushed her hair. She left the bathroom, walked down the hallway, past the spacious living room hosting a black leather sectional couch and a 64" flat-screen television, into the kitchen and finally into the foyer. The flooring in the kitchen was the same tiling as the bathroom, and the rest of the home a light grey oak-style laminate floor. Brise was sitting there, beautiful blue eyes watching her as she walked towards the door. Slipping on her black and red Nike sneakers, she grabbed Brise's leash and looked at her.