Like clockwork Ainsley McMahon checked the mailbox every morning after breakfast. She wasn't expecting mail, but the curiosity of finding out what was in the box always compelled her to look before her sister could get to it. It was usually bills, or letters for her sister but the child liked to take them out of the box and try and imagine what was inside. Her imagination usually led from the further possible result, but she had fun and after she was done she got to pretend she was a mailgirl and give the letters to Bell. She even had a special hat she made just for the job!
Today Ainsley had waffles with a strawberry syrup drizzled over them and a glass of milk for breakfast. Although waffles were technically considered a breakfast food, it was also rather sweet by nature and thus Ainsley had taken her time to savour it. By the time she had finished it and helped clear and put away the dishes, she was back on the clock and quick in her pursuit of the mailbox. She slipped on a pair of shoes so her feet didn't track dirt around, and then she opened the door.
It was nice out, not too hot with a good breeze and a blue sky, when she opened the door to go to the mailbox. The stepped out, looking behind her to make sure Cora was between the door, and then closed it behind her. She took a couple steps over the porch and stopped at the mailbox before she leaned up and lifted the cover carefully with one finger. Blue eyes peaked inside like it was a secret the world shouldn't know, something no one else but her could see, before she flipped it open.
Voila!
There were a couple letters in the box and one by one the child pulled them out until there wasn't anything left inside. Her hand felt around for another letter but there wasn't anything there and so she pulled her hand out and gave the empty box another look inside to make sure. Her eyes widened slightly when she discovered that the box wasn't completely empty. There was something inside! One hand clutched the letters to her chest carefully and the other reached deep into the box until she pulled something out.
She slowly opened her hand to see what it was, discovering that it was a blue and white thread bracelet with the cutest star bead in the middle! The bead looked suspiciously like a bead she'd seen at camp when she was making bracelets but it was a sense of deja vu that was mistaken for a sense of belonging. She wondered how it had that gotten there but there wasn't any tag with it. She decided to look in the box to see if anything had fallen off but unfortunately when the child looked to see if there was anything else in the box that may have told her how it got there, she found nothing. Quickly, she glanced over the letters that had been in the box with it but nothing seemed to resolve her curiosity.
She smiled widely as she thought about who could have possibly left this in the mailbox for her. At the top of the list was Senri Cross, and her heart was sent aflutter as she thought about the older man sitting down to make it for her. He probably was perfectly cool-headed as he made it with little to no mistakes. He must have twisted the strings like the ones on a piano, making exactly what he desired it to be. She loved it already and before she could think of a second thought, she tied it to her wrist. It looked lovely against her pale skin, or so she thought! It wasn't a very long thought, most of them being occupied with the idea of how much time, effort and love had been put into something for her.
She had nearly forgotten about the mail she'd picked up, and before she got too distracted, she made sure she got it all one last time and then went back inside to get her hat, stare at her wrist some more and then deliver the mail to her sister Bell before getting ready for the day.
