sad machine

(Warning: Rosemary may intrude at any time)

As the sun began to drop from its place in the sky, Odessa too found herself growing restless. Upon reaching the beach from the cliffs, the honey hued dame revelled in the chance to rest and relax. It had been a bit of a cold day - cloud cover hid the sky and occasionally would drop a wave of tiny droplets from above. The showers were sparse, coming and going but they had done well to chill the girl regardless. Her only reprieve was that the beach was out of the wind, and they could find shelter in the rocky overhangs.

As the day dragged into early evening, the rains slowed and the skies became stagnant. Pale grey extended beyond what she could see on the oceanside, where water churned far out of her reach. She was still cold - like the wind and rain had chilled her to the bone. Odessa believed they were alone, and found no reason to drag her sister around. She needed to rest. So when she rose, desperate to find some way to warm up without sharing her sister's dampened coat, Odessa encouraged her to remain on the beach while the princess scouted out the coastline.

She would find herself parting from the isolated beach and entering uneven ground, trembling paws cautious not to slip and fall. Eventually Odessa came to another beach; it was no different than the one beneath the cliff, and suddenly she found herself regretting wandering away from her young sister. A cool wind blew here, prompting her to turn away. In those fleeting moments of her vulnerability, though, she heard a noise - like rocks shifting upon each other, like somebody daring to come close. "Rosie?" She asked, straightening up to search for the culprit of the sound.