Age:
Post High School
Reading Level: 4.5
Chapter One
On the seventh of July 1996, Camilla ran away from her life and never went back.
She quit her job at the cafe and booked a one-way train ticket. She was armed with nothing but a dusty red suitcase, her typewriter, and Henry, who was sulking in a cat carrier.
She had left a note on the kitchen counter for Maria to find when she got back from her business trip.
Other than that, she had said no goodbyes.
Fortunately, her grandmother had a cottage in the English countryside.
She could stay for as long as she liked.
It was the perfect place to write her novel in peace.
Chapter Two
She hadn’t been to the cottage since her mother died. She was ready for it to be cluttered and dusty, having been abandoned for so long.
Ever since she was 17 or 18, time had felt less like a friend and more like an enemy that she was never able to outrun.
The disorder of the cottage reminded her just how long her mother had been dead. It also reminded her that violence could take many forms.
No force other than the relentless passage of time had caused the quiet destruction that greeted her in the countryside.
Chapter Three
Camilla spent the first few days cleaning and repairing the cottage.
She’d found a small selection of cleaning supplies. They had been tucked away in the shed behind the cottage years ago.
But that was all.
She didn’t have time to paint, sand, or polish. It meant that furniture stayed in bad condition.
Except for one piece.
The one piece of furniture that was miraculously well kept was her grandmother’s writing desk.
Its dark mahogany surface was shiny and smooth as ever.
As if only days had gone by, not years.
