Old man winter blow in rather quickly and with November in full bloom the girl found herself shivering in the night with only a single blanket to keep her warm. She started wearing her coat all the time, even to sleep. Even with a fire burning away in the heath above her room it did nothing to cut through the cold in the dead of the night. Now a new horror overtook her mind as the fear of dying of a cold set in. After lunch one day she glanced around to find she had very little to do that day. She had managed to clean up most of the house and only a fresh coat of paint would help the house now. "Can I draw in front of the fireplace today?" She asked Greg as he finished his sandwich. "Alright." He nodded his head, no matter how much she cleaned the house the man never seemed to keep himself clean and she wondered if he ever used the bath. It took her an entire day to scrub the bottom clean and was proud of her efforts. She only wished that she could bring up the matter of the man's smell up to him, but always backed down. She walked down the hall and into the basement and entered her room with the intent to gather some paper and pencils. Not feeling like going back upstairs just at that moment she flopped upon the mattress and stared up at the ceiling. The bed squeaked against the strain of her weight and Jennifer reminded herself to try to take it easy with the bed. She did not know how much its frame could take and she dreaded that as she grew the frame would no longer be able to take her weight and it would collapse on her in the middle of the night. She pulled the teddy bear into her arms as she continued to watch the beams overhead, when she suddenly noticed someone watching her from the window above her. Startled, she sprung to her feet and faced the new arrival, knelling in the window was Wendy, looking down at the girl. Jennifer leapt onto the bed and grinned happily at the girl. Jennifer had only seen Wendy in passing over the last few months and wished she could break free of the man just for one moment to spend some time with the girl. However, he kept a very short leash on her and on one occasion she received a swift smack across the face for venturing out of his sight in a store. So, whenever they went out she made sure to stay close to the man, even though in her heart she wanted to run off and play with Wendy in the Rose Garden. Wendy lightly tapped upon the glass with a finger. Jennifer pulled on the handle at the bottom of the window frame to ease it opened a crack. Metal elbows kept the window from opening only far enough for the girl to reach her hand through, "Wendy? Is that really you?" She inquired in a whisper, not wanting to alert Greg to the girl's appearance. "Hello, Mr. Joshua." She greeted with a smile upon her face, "I have something for you." She pulled a folded piece of paper from the pocket of her overcoat and pushed it through the crack. Jennifer quickly snatched up the paper before it fell, "What is this?" She inquired curiously. "A letter for my prince." She stated with a flush, then quickly glanced around, "I have to go." Before leaving she placed her hand upon the window and Jennifer mimicked the girl. With a giggle Wendy ran off around the house and vanished from sight. Jennifer pushed the window shut and sunk back down to her bed, her back against the wall. She turned the folded paper in her hands several times and a giddy of laugher escaped her lips and she quickly clapped her hands over her mouth, listening to make sure Greg was not coming. Only when she was certain that he was not on the move did she unfold the paper and read the words upon it. <i>"To Mr. Joshua, the bear in distress. It is Wendy. I always watch you from the sky. Mr. Joshua, why are you trapped down there?"</i> "Mr. Joshua..." Jennifer read aloud. The words slipped over her tongue like silt, leaving a bad taste in her mouth. She was growing tired of this game of Greg's and wished more and more to be the girl she used to be. She rolled over on the bed onto her back and held the letter at arms reach. Wendy had the loveliest script that Jennifer had ever seen. Letters slipped between printing to handwriting in such a smooth manner that they seemed to work together nicely, in Jennifer's mind that is. She mulled over how to reply. She did not wish to lie to the girl for fear that Wendy would want nothing more to do with her, if her secret was later got out. She did want to thank Wendy, for the letter and for the rose. Rolling off the bed she pulled the chair up to the desk and pulled out a piece of parchment. Greg had added some pencils to her growing assortment of drawing utensils; as such she had no problem finding something to write with. She took out a sharpened pencil from inside the desk and set it to the paper and began to write: <i>"Dear Wendy, my visitor in the window,"</i> She paused for a moment. Did that sound to strange? She was not sure, but decided to go with it. <i>"Thank you so much for writing to me. The man calls me Joshua, but my name is Jennifer. I've been in this room ever since he saved me. He's a nice person... But he won't let me leave."</i> She scanned her letter and considered saying more, but wanted to know how the girl would react to her confessions before continuing on. She did not wish to bore or scare the girl away so quickly. If this girl truly wished to be her friend then hopefully she will return. Jennifer so wished that Wendy would respond for the loneliness in her heart was beginning to cause it to rot just like the rose on her desk. Carefully she folded the letter and placed it under the corner of the bed, awaiting her princess's return. ***** To be Continued . . .
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