Damian St.Claire's Story

Stacey Ling Ellarum half walked half waddled down the park path, her heavy winter clothes limiting her movement slightly. Her almond eyes looked around, seeing the gentle autumn tones around her. It was autumn now, but the leaves in the park always stayed green slightly longer than they should, she knew that now after living in Wensler Village for 7 years. The path was lined with carved pumpkins, already raising the hype for Halloween. Stacey's breath was a barely visible cloud in the chill air. There was a light rain, heavy enough to see, but light enough that Stacey didn't get very wet. It was a nice quiet day, with not many people about, Stacey liked that. Her parents had finally let her go outside by herself, and she was excited, but she could practically feel her dad's bird watching binoculars looking at her. She didn't mind, it felt good to feel safe, she may be a big girl of seven, but the world was still scary, and knowing her parents were watching over her made her feel better.

Stacey walked a little quicker down the path, deciding to find a dry place to sit. The rain was getting a little heavier, and Stacey was beginning to give up finding a sheltered seat, when she saw a little rabbit. Stacey gasped in excitement, and slowly walked over to it. She stopped and put her hand into her pocket, fishing out a carrot she'd dug out of her mother's vegetable patch. She slowly extended her hand as she spoke softly to the brown rabbit. "Hello... I'm Stacey! Would you like a yummy little carrot?" Her tone was softer than her normal speaking voice, filling the air with a sound as soft and smooth as cashmere. The rabbit however, was scared by her, probably new to being on it's on like Stacey was. It scampered away towards a close group of oak trees and Stacey gave quiet chase. She ran at a good pace considering she wasn't much of a runner and she was wearing gumboots, and she soon got to the oak trees, and just saw a rabbit's tail disappear through a tunnel like hole in some bushes.

Stacey got onto her hands and knees, and crawled through the tunnel, finding it completely dry. She crawled for a little while,the sound of the rain quietened by the bushes and trees around and above her. She enjoyed the quiet, and got up on the other side of the tunnel, expecting for the quiet to stop as she brushed the dirt off her knees, but the quiet stayed. Stacey was puzzled until she stood up and looked around. Her breath was taken away by the place, it was surrounded by large oak trees, and where there weren't trees there were large bushes that you could barely see the Wensler Village park, especially when you were 7 years old. Some of the bushes were rose bushes, and two were situated at either end of a park bench. Stacey had forgotten she was even in a park after finding this magical place. It was like the places you'd read about in fairy tales, almost nothing like the rest of the park. The only evidence she was still in Wensler Village was the park bench and a bit of fencing that showed through one of the bushes. Stacey guessed this place was in the corner of the park that met with the countryside by the lack of traffic noise. Stacey loved it.

Still holding the carrot, Stacey looked around for the rabbit. She waved the carrot around, trying to spread the smell around so the rabbit would come out, but to no avail. She did however find a little hole in the ground as she was looking around. Crouching down, Stacey gently put the carrot on the edge of the hole, hoping the rabbit and their family would enjoy it. She wanted to see the result, but she also wanted to walk around. Looking at her surroundings she decided to stay in her serene clearing. She walked over to the bench, and got on to it, her short height a slight disadvantage. She did however get onto the bench, and she sat there, her legs swinging as she sat and listened to the sounds of birds, and leaves blowing in the wind as the rain poured outside Stacey's special place.

It was a warm sunny day. The weather was just perfect, not a cloud in the sky. Birds were singing, bees were buzzing, and life was good. A young boy and his mother strolled hand in hand down the rode, entering the park. The mother was smiling and the little boy laughing as he hugged his mothers arm tightly. "Are we almost there mommy?" The little boy asked impatiently. "Almost Damian." The woman laughed. Damian was only six, but he and his mother had taken the same walk every sunday morning since he was three. Well, almost every sunday.


The pair neared the park. Damian jumped around saying that they were almost there. He ran into an area hidden from everything else. A quiet beautiful place with a single bench. There were flowers everywhere, and occasionally a rabbit or two. Damian rushed to pick some of the flowers, ending up with mostly dandelions. Soon after his mother entered the special area. Damian ran up to her "Here mommy! i picked these for you, because theyre pretty like you!" He said. "Thank you dear, theyre very beautiful." His mother said and put them in the pocket of her dress. Damians mother nudged him toward the bench where they both sat down. "What are we going to read today mom?" The curious young boy asked. "Alice in wonderland. My favorite story." She answered.


Damian listened closely as his mother read the story, stopping to explain certain words to him. This story was strange he thought. His mother loved it though, and he decided that since she loved it, that so did he. Parts of the story were silly and made him laugh, others were sad and he buried himself into his mother. The story came to a point where the girl was sad about being trapped in wonderland, and talked about her family. "Mom? You'll never leave me right? I dont want you to. I want to stay with you forever and help you when youre sick." Damian said as he leaned on his mother. "I'll be with you as long as god allows me to my dear. As long as i can." She said.

Damian began to fall asleep. "I want to come here every sunday with you. Forever okay?" He said tiredly. "Okay dear, we will come here every sunday. Forever." His mother promised. This was the last time Damian and his mother made it to the park. The last time they made it to their most special place in the entire world.

Stacey awoke in the dawn light of a Sunday morning, the light orange and pink tones of a new day falling across her face. She stretched and sat up, leaning her elbows on her pillow, her body warm and cozy from her sky blue duvet. She looked at her bedside clock. It was 6:29, her usual wake up time. And any moment now... "Stacey!" Her mother, Miyako, came in at 6:30 on the dot, with a tray of cereal and orange juice, with strawberry jam on toast. "Stacey, you're awake. Good. You don't have to do anything today, and it's your special day not too long away now, so I've got you a special treat, breakfast in bed." Stacey smiled softly at her raven haired mother, and graciously took the tray of food, knowing her mother just wanted an excuse to spoil her. Her mother ruffled her hair before leaving the room. Stacey took a bite of the jammy toast, it's sweet strawberry taste lingering in her mouth long after she'd finished the toast. As Stacey ate her cereal, she looked out of her attic room window. She'd always wanted to have an attic room, and when her siblings were born, she snatched the opportunity to have her favourite room in the house as her bedroom. Well, if it was a physical thing she wouldn't have snatched the opportunity. That would be rude. She would have asked nicely for it. Which she did, and now, at age 20, Stacey had an attic room view. She finished her breakfast and put the tray down gently on the bedside table, and got up. She walked over to the small window in her flannel pajamas, and looked out over the park below. Their house was next to the park, and was like every other house on the street; a two storey building with an attic, 4 rooms, a bathroom and a small back garden. They'd gotten a large amount of noise from the park when there had been parties or concerts, but it was worth it to be able to see a view like the one Stacey saw today. It was early autumn and it was getting colder, but it was still warm enough to wear one layer of clothes, with a jacket of some sort of course. There was a light mist on the ground, and dew covered everything in a shimmering damp cloak that shone in every colour imaginable. The window was slightly misted, but Stacey wiped a little circle on the window to see the beautiful morning even clearer.

Taking a deep breath, Stacey expected to smell roses, but instead only got a faint whiff of rose. She pouted slightly and furrowed her brow. She looked at the top of her window, and saw that her roses weren't exactly very fresh. Stacey had made a habit recently of picking roses and pinning them to the top of her window. She'd been doing it for nearly the whole year now, and every week she'd gotten a rose and pinned it up. People had noticed, and brought her roses to pin up, wanting to be included in her strange habit. But Stacey would always politely and quietly decline the roses, and would instead put them in a vase downstairs. No, these roses were always the same, the same stage in their flowering, the same colour with a few exceptions, and they were always from one place. Stacey hadn't been able to visit her place lately. She'd been preoccupied with other things. She gently caressed one of the roses with her fingertips, and smiled softly. She then walked over to her large old fashioned wardrobe, and opened it wide, picking out an outfit. She didn't look at the door of the wardrobe, but didn't need to, as she already knew what had been there for nearly a week now. She pulled her coat tighter around her and headed downstairs. She saw her brother and sisters eating breakfast, Lily describing last night’s dream very vividly to Misty, who was half listening, half reading his book, his blind eye closed, obviously still recovering from awaking. Stacey dodged what appeared to be a cornflake, and exclaimed with an eep. “Watch out!” Her brother and sister saw her and grinned. “Stacey!” Lily exclaimed with a grin, as she hugged her sister a very warm good morning. Misty looked up for a second then looked back at his book. “Oh, good morning.” Stacey smiled softly at them both, and as Lily sat back down, Stacey felt a tug on her sweater. She looked down and saw her youngest sister. She held up a piece of paper, and Stacey took it with a smile. “Thank you!” She said sweetly, her quiet voice managing to be heard despite Lily’s expressions of “PEW PEW” and “BOOM SPLAT BOW”. She opened up the piece of paper, and saw a rather crude but cute drawing of 9 cats in a forest, one of them flying. She smiled and kissed her sister's forehead, sending her on her way, and she gently folded the drawing into her pocket.

Stacey’s parents Pengfei and Miyako were talking together over Miyako’s flax weaving and Pengfei’s newspaper. Yukimi, her grandfather, sat silently, just watching out the window, with a picture of Stacey’s grandmother on the windowsill. Stacey smiled. “Good morning.” She said softly, and everyone looked towards her, beaming with joy and pride. “Good morning sweetheart.” Her father Pengfei said with a proud grin, giving her a kiss on the cheek when she came near. “I’m just going out for a walk.” They all smiled and went back to what they were doing, allowing Stacey to walk out the house, and head towards Wensler Village's park. It had changed since she'd found her special place. The village had expanded, now surrounding the park, rather than the park having two sides touching the countryside. Stacey stepped onto the damp cobblestone path that led from their front door to the picket fence gate. She turned to the right, and walked across the dewy grass to a small area of the garden with a blanket covered hutch, some logs and a kennel. The kennel was empty, and she wasn't surprised. Her pet poodle Domo was probably inside next to a heater somewhere. However, the hutch wasn't empty. She removed the blankets on top of it, and opened a little trap door on the top of the wood and metal hutch. She saw various small creatures lying next to a few hot water bottles, and curled up in blankets, and she could see little tails poking out of the enclosed room. One animal was awake, lying amongst the squirrel and rabbits. It was a little white mouse she called Paper, as she'd found the little sweetheart underneath a discarded newspaper. She was waiting for Stacey, expecting either a cuddle or food. Stacey smiled, and reached in to pick Paper up. She put him under her collar on her shoulder, and put the hutch back to how it had been before they both set out to the park. Stacey had brought a small pair of shears to cut a rose with, but would probably stay longer, maybe she could meditate. She walked quickly down nearly empty paths, as it was early in the morning, and it was mostly joggers and people on their way to work in the park right now. She saw a few people putting pumpkins along the pathways, like they did every year, every autumn for as long as Stacey could remember. She admired the beauty of the early morning, but wanted to get to the place quickly. She eventually came to a ring of bushes and trees that most people would think was just some piece of the previous nature the council had kept there in the furthest corner of the park, but to Stacey it was her special place she'd never shown anyone. She found the hole, and crawled through it, the thick bushes forming the tunnel keeping the ground dry and safe from dampness. She crawled all the way through to the other side, and she stood up, seeing that it was exactly the same as always. The trees around gave her plenty of shade, but sunlight still shone into the secret circle, lighting up the old park bench and a few rose bushes surrounding it. She smiled, and bent over elegantly to clip a rose from the pinky red bush that was just perfect. She smelt it's gentle fragrance, and smiled blissfully. She sat down gently on the bench, her legs together, and her hands in her lap with her rose, every inch of her screeching beautiful and elegant, although there was no one around. She saw a rabbit hole not too far from the edge of the bushes, and smiled as she heard little squeaks of business as the rabbit family supposedly started preparing for winter. She closed her eyes, still smiling, Paper sticking her nose out of her collar, staying warm. She breathed deeply, letting the sunshine fall on her face as she started to meditate.

Damian had gotten up rather early, like he had done every sunday. He got all showered up, and dressed. Had his breakfast and read the paper. Damian lived alone in his apartment, so there was no one to say good morning too, or anyone to really talk to at all. Well, there was the dog but he didnt say much at all. He did however say good morning to a picture of his mother everyday, hoping she could somehow hear him.


Damian packed up his phone, pager, the morning paper, and most importantly, a book, into a messenger back and headed out the doors of his apartment building and headed to the most important place of all, the park.

It didnt take long to get there on him motorcycle, about 15 minutes or so. Once there he avoided almost everyone, hurrying to the place he always went to, careful not to get even a step off of the premade map he had etched into his brain. Damian always stepped where he had walked the last time he had come to the park with his mother.

Damian neared the entrance, crawling through the hole in the bushes. There was a girl there, which was strange to him, he had never seen anyone else back there. He didnt make a peep, not one sound to the woman, he simply sat down on the bench as far away as possible and pulled out his book, Alice in Wonderland, and began reading silently the same pages he had read every sunday for years and years.

Stacey had been meditating on the bench, Paper's gentle breaths on her shoulder soothing her. She was just about to get into a deep trance, when a tree above dropped a leaf. The rusty coloured leaf fluttered slowly down, casting its shadow in different places as it slowly came down to land on Stacey's nose. Her nose twitched and wriggled, and after a second or two, Stacey sneezed a little sneeze, and the leaf went fluttering again, this time doing a loop and landing on Paper's head. Stacey opened her eyes, and looked around, planning to adjust her eyes back to light but instead saw a man around her age sitting on the opposite end of the bench. His hair was lush and black, and a strand or two drooped down into his dark green eyes. His pale yet tanned fingers were turning the pages on an old copy of Alice in Wonderland, as he read them. He wore a dark coat with it's collar turned up to his cheekbones. "Eep!" Stacey jumped in shock at seeing the man, and brought her hands close to her chin. She looked at the man oddly, and leaned towards him. "Why are you in my spot? I haven't told anyone about this in the thirteen years since I found this place!"

"Youre spot? ive been coming here every sunday since i was three years old. This is my spot. But i guess i'll share"Damian said to the woman. She was around his age, and quite pretty, yet seemingly kind of rude. 'Her spot. Ha! This has, and always will be MY spot' Damian said in his head. Who was she to take over his special place anyways, she was lucky he hadnt threatened to knife her just for being there on sunday, the most special day of all. Still, he let her sit with her rodent. He wasnt in a hostile mood, his mother would have frowned at him if he had been too unkind to the young woman. 'Always remember to share' Echoed in his mind in the voice of his long deceased mother. And so he did share. But she never said anything about having to talk to people, so damian did as he pleased and continued reading his book, still flipping through the same first chapter, reading it over and over again. Damian had never once thought to read ahead, he felt it would disrespect his mother since she was the one who was supposed to read it to him. Damians mother enjoyed reading to him, so he played back her words in his head as he read the book quietly.

Stacey raised her eyebrows as he mentioned he had come here since he was three. She looked down at the blush rose in her lap, turning it over in her fingers as she thought about the man. If they'd both been coming here for years on end, how come they'd never seen each other? She thought about it, and then realised something. She'd never come here on a Sunday. Well, she probably had, but not this early. She felt slightly dizzy at the prospect of how slim those chances were. Her family were strong believers in fate and that the universe does everything for a reason, what was the reason for this? She held her grandmother's lotus necklace tightly in her hand, saying a little prayer to her. Her feet were a little chilly from the light layer of mist on the ground, so she brought them up next to her on the bench. Paper was trying to eat the leaf that had woken her up, but realised it wasn't edible. She dropped the leaf, but accidentally slid out from under Stacey's collar. Stacey caught her before she fell too far, and sat her in her lap, next to the rose. She pulled a little bag of animal seed out of her pocket and opened it, laying it next to Paper."There you go, I'm sorry I forgot to feed you, I was just excited to get here." She smiled softly, completely forgetting there was another person there at all as she pet Paper, who enjoyed her meal thoroughly.

Damian was trying to mind his own business and quietly read but couldnt help but notice the young woman next to him speaking to a rat. "What kind of girl lets a rat crawl all over her?" He asked, probably having the same monotone voice and bored expression as always. Something about this girl intrigued him though, something he couldnt quite grasp. Damian didnt bother to keep looking at the woman and went back to his bag, pulling out a pad of paper and a mechanical pencil and began drawing, keeping his notebook far from the woman's view. Wasnt any of her business anyways. He was drawing one of the rosebushes again, well sketching it. He'd paint it later on when he had the time. His phone and pager beeped multiple times too, but he ignored it all, seeming rather focused.

Stacey looked at the man sideways, feeling mad that he'd mistaken a mouse for a rat, even if it was just to make fun of her it ticked her off. She looked back down, and muttered quietly. "At least the 'rat' has manners." She scratched the said "rat" between the ears as it ate neatly out of the bag. She felt a little bad for talking back like that, but it also felt kinda good. She leaned towards a rose bush, pulling a blossom towards her face slowly, smelling its sweet scent. As she pulled away, she felt a ladybug on her nose. She looked down and giggled. "No no, you'd better stay on the rose bush little one, you need to keep it from getting eaten!" She said softly, putting the ladybug down on the rose again. She admired the little bug as it walked around the rose, almost patrolling, when she noticed it had 7 spots. She smiled at the sign of luck, before sitting back on the bench, leaning her head back to relax. The morning mist was slowly melting away, and the sun had risen a little more, so it was shining it's light a little further into the circle of trees. The sunny light hit Stacey's brown hair, reflecting and shining through it in a gentle golden glow. Her cheeks were flushed from the chill breeze that had blown against her face all morning. Her gentle smile lit her face in a soft sense of peace and bliss. All thoughts of the man had left her mind, and she only listened to the beautiful sound of bird song around her. Paper had left her lap, going nose to nose with a rabbit, but Stacey wasn't alone. A young robin had fluttered over and sat on Stacey's shoulder, chirping sweetly. Stacey gently pet its head, eyes closed and barely paying attention to what she was doing. Most people would be surprised that the robin had let her pet it, but to her it was normal, and what she usually did to all the animals in this place.

' I have manners, i just choose not to use them' Damian thought to himself, he decided to leave the woman alone for now and went back to his book, he was now at the part where Alice was falling down the rabbit hole and things were floating and flying past her. Damian always loved this part because he wish he could escape just like she did, escape life and all its troubles, violence, destruction, and despair . Sadly, only drugs could give him an escape, and Damian didnt do drugs.

After a while he looked up to see that the mouse was gone and had been replaced by a bird. Damian didnt understand why the animals seemed to flock to this woman. "How do you get them to do that?" He asked quietly. No animal had ever liked him before. Well no animal but his own dog of course. Unknowingly Damian scooted a bit closer to get a better view of the bird. The bird was brilliantly colored, quite beautiful in fact. So was the girl.

Stacey opened her eyes and looked at the man, who had gotten closer. Her eyes widened and she almost made a little squeak at his slight closeness. His face was nearer to her, and easier to see, and Stacey saw the wrinkles and eye bags of a worried person. She realised he had asked a question and looked at the bird on her shoulder. "Oh, hello Bruce. Yes, it's me Stacey. I don't come here on a Sunday much do I?" She smiled softly at the bird and offered it the bag of seed. Bruce chirped and hopped onto the bench next to Stacey. Stacey scattered some grain on the ground in front of her, and watched Bruce hop about eating it. She blushed when she realised she still hadn't answered the man's question. "Oh, well I'm not exactly sure..." She smiled nervously and fidgeted with the rose in her lap, blushing due to her shyness. Or at least she hoped it was.

Damian was literally stunned by this woman's natural gift with animals, the only animal that had ever like him was his own dog, who took months warm up to him. Though damian had been blessed with art skills and a nice singing voice, he valued the ability to get along with animals more. Damian assumed it was the way he looked, of the tone of his voice that scared animals away from him. He had always tried to make friends with the stray cats around his apartment building but never had any luck. None of the cats came back to visit him, they only stayed for the free food.

"Do you think...You could teach me...? If you ever come here on another sunday?" He asked. He knew that by talking to this young woman that his 'people' skills would improve and so would his skills with animals. Damian had some people issues though, and not just storming away from the girl was pretty hard to do. It was for the best that he at least tired to improve though.

Stacey looked in surprise at the man. "Oh, I uhm..." She saw the hopeful look in his eyes, and smiled sweetly, blushing wildly. "O-Okay." Stacey wasn't really used to this. Normally she made friends via her parents or already existing friends. She was too shy to make any more than her current number. She pulled out a little bottle of water from her coat pocket. After a little bit of squeezing, the rosebud dropped into the water bottle, floating like it wasn't even in water, but was instead in thin air. It reminded Stacey of the rose from Beauty and the Beast, her favourite fairy tale. She tucked the bottle back in her coat pocket gently. She clicked her tongue and brought Paper to her without getting up. Her paws tickled Stacey's legs as the little mouse climbed up to her lap. She picked up Paper gently, and held her out gently to the man. "Show me how you pick her up."

Damian watched the woman as she put the rose bud in the bottle. It reminded him of a book him and his other once read, though he couldnt remember what it was called. Damian watched as the girl seemed to summon the mouse, asking to see how damian would have picked her up. Damian reached over slowly at the mouse a determined look settled on his face. Before he could even touch the mouse it cowered in fear and sought protection from the young woman. Damian pulled his hand back, obviously frustrated, He didn't have much patience for things like this, even though he knew it took time and effort to build trust. "Its not going to work, shes already afraid of me." He said glancing at the mouse cowering at the young lady's side. "Theyre always too afraid..." He mumbled, barely loud enough for the girl to hear.

Damian turned back around to his book and closed it, stuffing it in his messenger bag. "Thanks for trying at least. It was nice to meet you ...uh..Whoever you are. Maybe i'll see you again some time." He said as he stood up and turned to leave, ready to let the failed attempt be a part of the past.

Stacey tutted at both Paper and the man, and scolded Paper in Chinese and English quietly before standing and grabbing the man's hand. She pulled him back on to the seat and frowned at him. It was meant to be menacing, but she just ended up looking like a grumpy squirrel. "One try is not enough! And my name is Stacey!" She pulled Paper out of her pocket, disrupting her little mouse's attempt to get out of being held by a stranger. She plonked herself down on the bench next to him and held out Paper again. "Try again. Be slow and gentle, and don't look so grumpy." At saying this Stacey pulled off the grumpy squirrel look and smiled instead, but her eyes retained the look that said do it or else.

Damian was slightly surprised by the woman now known as Stacy and her stubbornness. Regardless he sat down again and watched her pull out the mouse. Damian held his hand out towards the mouse and tried to look as friendly as he could. He didnt think it was working though seeing as the mouse still wouldnt move. It took a few steps to sniff his hand but thats as far as it got. so damian cupped his hand around the back of the mouse and gently coaxed in onto his hand. It didnt look like it wanted to be there though, so he quickly returned it to Stacey. "Hey...Im not grumpy, i was concentrating...And im Damian by the way.." He said watching the mouse climb back on to Stacys hand. He had accomplished one thing, he talked to someone without it being business related for the first time in over a year. So that was a good start, or at least thats what damian thought.

"Animals have never like me much, and i doubt your mousey friend will warm up to me either. Only my dog seems to put up with me....Uhm, thanks for trying though. I appreciate it, Stacey." He said, as he looked at the time, it was nearly time for him to get to work again. Maybe he'd blow work off all together though.

Stacey mentally left a note to herself to give her mouse a lesson in manners when they got back home. Whenever that would be, hopefully not too soon. Stacey smiled at Damian and held out her dainty hand. "It's very nice to meet you..." Paper climbed under her collar again and tried to nibble the lotus flower necklace she was wearing. After they'd shook hands briefly, Stacey pulled the lotus away from Paper. She always forgot that necklace wasn't real. Stacey's face lit up at the mention of a dog, her shyness dropping for a moment. "Ooh! What breed are they?" Stacey wanted to add that Damian didn't look the dog type, but decided against it. Stacey noticed Damian looking at his watch and frowned. "Are you in a rush? I'm sorry, I shouldn't keep you, but surely you don't have work on a Sunday?"

"Ah hes a...Catahoula Leopard Dog....His name is Satan....i got him a few days ago.." Damian says. " Well ive just got to talk to a person is all, its work related so. Technically work. " He says quietly. He shifts nervously. " I really do have to go, he will be mad if im not on time...." He says and shakes her hand one more time " it was nice meeting you" He says then disapears rather quickly to meet a man about another man. A man who was scheduled to give information, or die withholding it. Damian sighed, not wanting to be in this position any longer, he wanted to quit the hole thing, but didnt want to end up dear in the process.

Stacey smiled as Damian left, even though he probably didn't see the smile, she felt that it had helped somehow. But what kind of help would he need? He seemed to be a smart guy who could make an entire stock market flourish. Stacey's mind was just wandering now. Why was she thinking so much about Damian anyway? He was just some stranger she helped with handling animals... Right? Stacey sighed, and took out the bottle of water from her pocket. She observed the rose just floating in the water, seeming to be suspended in time. If only human lives could be like that. Perfect and lovely forever. But instead lives were like the roses pinned on her window, withering away eventually over time, but still lovely despite. Stacey took her secateurs and cut another rose, deciding to keep this one. Stacey wriggled out through the tunnel, the park no longer misty, but the occasional leaf still fell about her. Stacey crossed the street and scattered a few handfuls of food into the enclosures in front of the house before going inside. She gave Verity a hug before heading up to her room. She got a thumbtack and pinned the rose on the window before setting down the bottled one on the sill, the light shining through it and casting little shimmers in the room. Stacey put her coat back in her cupboard, before collapsing on the bed.

It was precisely an hour after damian had talked to the man he had needed to, uckily the man gave up the information he needed and was let go alive. Damian disliked hurting people, but with his job being what it was he could not avoid it. Damian had gotten home, fed his dog satan, and had just sat down for a cup of tea when he realized something. His book was gone. Damian tore his apartment apart looking for it when suddenly his mind snapped back to the park, realizing he must have left it on the bench when he was hurrying out. Damian grabbed Satans leash and attached it to the dogs collar, using this as a chance to get the dog some exercise. He hurried back to the park, accidentally winding up with spilled tea down most of the front of his shirt. That didnt matter though all he cared about was that book. He reached the park, seeing it sitting there looking almost picturesque in the sunlight. He quickly scooped it up and put it in his bag. He sat for a while, letting his dog wander this part of the park freely.