The breeze swayed through her fine black hair as she bent down to pick up the object. It was a brown leather journal, worn away from age and weather. The spine was cracked and peeling at the edges with small pieces of what seems as though used to be tape. The pages, yellowed and stuck together from the years of travel, had traces of dirt stained on the corners. When looking at the front, the cover had no title nor name with only a small band hooked from the back by a button. Marilyn's fingers traced the outermost edges that had long been frayed from wherever it had come from.
When carefully opening the journal to the front page, she was met with a statement in large, bolded letters.
'Trust nobody.'
It was a trivial statement at best in Marilyn's eyes, for who would believe such an incredulous thing? Though, she couldn't seem to push away an uncomfortable feeling in her gut. She quickly flipped through the pages, finding that almost each and every one of them was filled to the brim with scribbles of messy writing. As Marilyn neared the last page, the hospital door swung open.
"Marilyn? What are you doing sitting alone in the grass over there?"
Surprised, she stashed away the journal into her purse and looked up.
"Oh? Nurse Locke! I was just coming here to…" Marilyn trailed off, glancing down at her purse. Maybe it was best not to mention what she had found. "I wanted to say hello! Doctor Tarot treated my husband last week for his sore foot and I wanted to say thank you."
The nurse smiled at Marilyn, her white teeth gleaming in the sun. Turning around, Nurse Locke held open the glass doors to the hospital once more.
"I'll pass along the message. The doctor is quite busy right now, so you'll have to come around again later."
Marilyn slowly nodded her head and picked herself up off the ground while the nurse disappeared back into the building. The door slammed behind her, giving the message of being unwelcomed to Marilyn. She spun on her heel and swiftly walked away, breathing a sigh of relief when moving out of view of the building. Something was wrong with the way the nurse looked at her, but she couldn't quite place it. Although it could only just be Marilyn overreacting again (as her husband said she was on multiple occasions prior), she couldn't shake the feeling that the exchange was a bit off.
Briskly returning back to her home, Marilyn rushed inside to escape from watching eyes. No matter how inconspicuous this journal seemed from the outside, who could know what kind of suspicious material it might contain? She placed her purse down on the glossy dining table and fished through it to find the book. Clasping it in her hands, she opened it and began to flip through the pages for closer inspection of the writing inside. Though just as she began to focus on it, the doorbell began to ring throughout the house. The noise was a constant, heavy sound that echoed around the rooms with each time the button was pressed, proving that whoever was at the door was utterly insistent on having somebody answer.
Marilyn angrily stormed towards the front door, throwing it open to shout at the person who was fixated on making such a racket.
"WHY DO YOU KEEP RINGING MY DOORBELL?"
Taken aback by the unexpected response, Adeline took a few steps to back away from the door. "Oh! I'm so sorry. Was I bothering you?"
Marilyn rubbed her temples from stress, sighing when she realized who she had completely gone mad at.
"No, of course not. What can I help you with?"
"Well, I brought over a few extra cookies I had made a few minutes ago. Could I bring these inside if you don't mind?" Adeline grinned and held out a silver platter of small, chocolate chip cookies.
Glancing up, Marilyn couldn't help but be a bit astounded by Adeline. She was a beautiful woman indeed, with golden locks of blonde hair cascading down her back and shoulders. Her eyes were a brilliant green, which was unusual in the colorless dome that they lived in. Even though they had met prior to this, Marilyn did not have a good chance to look at Adeline closely to notice these things.
"Is everything alright?" She moved closer and brushed loose strands of hair from Marilyn's face to peer into her eyes, trying to examine if there was anything wrong. Marilyn became flushed, her ears and cheeks becoming a light pink color that was easily noticeable against her pale skin.
Stammering, she broke away from Adeline's gaze and instead looked down at her feet. "Ah, yes! Of course you can bring it inside. The kitchen table always has room for more delicious treats."
Leading her inside, Marilyn closed the door behind them as they walked into the main entrance. The floors were a deep shade of brown that contrasted with the plain white walls that surrounded them. Bright fluorescent lights were speckled around the house and illuminated the long hallways and large rooms. The house was pristine with no grime to be found; it was as if nobody had ever even stepped foot inside the place.
Bringing her to the dining room, Marilyn sheepishly smiled at Adeline while tracing her finger along the edge of the table.
"Here we are! Please excuse the mess, I just got home from my walk."
Adeline meticulously walked towards the table while trying to make sure not to spill any crumbs or cookies around the floor. A leather journal that laid resting on the table caught her attention as she neared, making her stop in her tracks. Almost knocking into Adeline, Marilyn fell back. The plate of cookies clattered to the ground and spilled around the floor, surrounding their feet.