Adaline jumped out of bed with such energy, as if life itself had poured into her body.
It was the most cheerful awakening since she was born. The body is light, the head is clear, the breath is clean.
The morning sun shone dazzlingly.
The early winter morning light shining through the glass panes seemed almost magical.
[Why, even the heavy velvet curtains looked like a real work of art! Their dense cords flowed with such elegance that they took your breath away.]
“Damn it, what a wonderful world this is...” she whispered, as if in love.
In a fit of happiness, she opened the window, and the ringing song of birds filled the clear morning air.
“Oh, how cold it is!”
[No matter how much beauty there is around, winter does not become warmer from inspiration. Even happiness cannot overcome physiology. Our brain and its happy chemicals are too limited.]
[No, Adaline could not become a dreamy romantic who, out of joy, ceases to feel cold, hunger and fatigue.]
[But, taking a deep breath and feeling the frosty air penetrate to her very fingers, she suddenly felt, here it is, life. Real.]
[Is it true that fresh air improves vision? Maybe that’s why old people go to the mountains in the morning...]
[The world was shining.]
[Because now Adaline was truly free.]
[Freedom. Liberation. What a sweet, ringing word.]
[Now she didn't have to break herself by living up to someone else's expectations. There was no longer any fear that she would be driven out of this world. She did not have to play a given role. She did not have to fear that happiness did not belong to her.]
[Her return did not put Genevieve in danger. The real villain never showed up. The main characters followed their own paths. Even the antagonist remained alive and unharmed.]
[The simple fact that the heroine and villainess could be together and nothing happened was the best proof that the danger had passed.]
[If everything had ended with a pre-written “happy ending,” Adaline would have had to live in constant anxiety. In ideal happiness, she would have to be dead.]
[She would live in constant fear of discovery. In fear that she will be punished for daring to deceive fate.]
[But now that the ending was not predetermined, the very fact of her life no longer seemed strange.]
And here she is, standing by the window. And she feels that she did not live in vain.
“Still, life is worth it...” she whispered and immediately felt her eyes filling with tears.
[No, here we go again...]
[She did not have any special abilities like the “chosen ones”. A fragile body that could be killed with one blow, fatigue, escape, survival...]
[Years of struggle. Sweat, blood and tears.]
Adaline pressed her nose to the glass. She was sure she had cried herself dry yesterday. But, watching it all again, I felt the tears welling up again.
[I tried so hard. I struggled. I didn't give up.]
“Are you awake?” - a voice came from behind.
"Shane!"
Shane walked in carrying a tray of food. He opened the door with his shoulder and looked around the room in bewilderment.
“Why did you open the window?”
“Yes, because I feel good!”
“But it’s cold?”
"Crazy cold." - she admitted, slamming the doors. Then she quickly walked over to Shane to pick up the tray, but he deftly lifted it over his head and instead leaned down to kiss her on the cheek.
“Sit down. Have breakfast."
“Give it back, I’ll do it myself.”
“It’s not worth it, it’s heavy.”
Shane placed the tray on the table by the window, then carefully closed it a second time, making sure there was no draft.
On the tray is a thick, creamy soup with an appetizing aroma, golden brown buns, jam and milk. It all looked so simple, but for Adaline now, it was a dream breakfast.
The buns shone with a golden crust, their round shape and glossy surface looked truly appetizing.
Just looking at them, she felt her stomach growl. I remembered that yesterday I didn’t have lunch and fell asleep on an almost empty stomach.
“Eat the soup first. Do your eyes still hurt?
"Not anymore. I thought they would, but no.”
“I put a cold towel on your eyes early in the morning. It seems to have helped."
Adaline looked at him in surprise.
“And I didn’t wake up?”
“You rarely wake up from noise.”
“I used to wake up easily...” she said thoughtfully.
[When she was still hiding abroad, the nightmares stopped, but her sleep was still light. Even after escaping, she could not sleep truly peacefully.]
[Safety does not immediately accustom one to calmness.]
Anxiety lurked somewhere at the bottom of her subconscious.
Adaline often slept curled up in a ball, tossing and turning. Lloyd said she often talks in her sleep...and almost always frowns.