Caroline murmured to herself under a hefty sigh, pulling dark-brown locks back from her face to – rather carelessly – tie it back into a hair bun. Most of the apartment was clean now, especially her much beloved display case filled with the championships she won back in her glory indy days. However, she still had one task left at hand and that was her bedroom. Continuing with heavy distaste, Caroline approached her bedroom with cleaning utensils in hand.


Her room was almost like a teenager's; messy with bits and pieces scattered across surfaces with clothes lazily thrown on the floor, along with a few other miscellaneous items. Her bed hadn't been made as sheets and pillows laid messily on the mattress. Running a hand through the few escaped, messy pieces of brown tresses, Caroline sighed heavily and approached her bed. She went to lean over to grab the bed sheets and pull them off, however, she stubbed her toe on something hard and metallic under her bed. With a grunt of disapproval, she moved back to lean down and hold her foot, massaging the now reddened toe between her thumb and forefinger. Her eyes flickered upward to spot the metallic case, and soon everything became silent.


The case.


She hadn’t seen it for a while, never mind its contents. Within that moment time seemed to slow, and rather than seconds passing it felt like snow; falling flake by flake until gradually becoming overriding and unbearable, as if being blocked in by her silence. Slowly Caroline fell onto her knees, eyes never leaving the case for a single moment. Hands began to shake from the build-up of emotion inside, just staring stupidly. Cautiously, her hand reached forward to gently grasp the steel handle of the case and pull it close to her, before her bent knees. Another moment of stillness and silence fell over the room, as if everything had come to a standstill. A quivering hand hooked under the latch of the case and flicked it upward, very cautiously opening the box.


Inside were only three things; a small bracelet, and two pictures. The first Caroline picked up was a hand-drawn scribble, clearly an infant’s drawing. The picture in question was of a small girl with short, brown hair wearing a purple dress holding the hand of a taller woman with black hair in a ponytail in a blue dress, together walking in a flowery meadow with a smiling sun and big, fluffy clouds. Scribbled in green at the top of the picture was ‘I luv my mama’ in poor hand-writing, all done in crayon. Fingertips brushed over the still lumped markings of the crayons, smiling in a sorrowful manner at the childhood innocence which no longer lingered.


Carefully she put the picture back, and brought the other to her attention. This was different, a photograph to be exact, showing Caroline – roughly sixteen, judging by the horrendous shoulder-length dark brown hair she sported and the pesky pimples that surfaced themselves on her skin – grinning widely with a thumbs up and holding a large clump of cotton candy. Beisde her was the same woman, this time with a long braid, smiling so brightly her eyes had become small arcs of zeal, with an arm wrapped around Burchill’s waist and her cheek pressed against her forehead. Her mother. Smiling and cheerful, the way Caroline always preferred to remember her. Despite the fond memory expressed in the photograph, all of the other not-so cherishable memories began to flood into her mind.


Memories that she greatly preferred she didn't have to remember.


Caroline shook her head and placed the photograph back into its original confinement. A soft sigh passed through her lips as she pushed the case back underneath her bed before proceeding to tidy up her room. Once she was finished, however, a faint knock of the door resonated within the apartment. Startled at first, Caroline made her way towards the door and opened it slightly, peeking through the crack to see who it was. Her mouth became agape in shock and her eyes widened in disbelief upon the realization of who it was that was by the door.


"What the hell are you doing here?"


The male that was by the door simply shook his head and chuckled, seemingly amused by Caroline's shocked disposition. He placed his hands in his pockets, the small smirk that was on his face never fading for a second.


"Surprise, surprise. Thought that you would actually be a little nicer and give me a more welcoming response as opposed to that. Then again, you'll hardly ever change your ways."