{part 13}

{parts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9,  10,  11, & 12}

when i woke up i didn't know where i was or where i'd been or what i was supposed to be doing. i was in a hotel room but it was a different one than last night or the night before that or the night before that and i'd lost track of where in the world this could possibly be.

i stared at the ceiling as though my memories were millions of little black spiders skittering across it into the dark corners where i'd never find them again. i began pulling down little bits and pieces of yesterday and last night and the weekend as a whole: the ferry, the enchanted forest, train rides and the beach and being lost and being broken out of our train station prison. it was day seven. tuesday. we were back in edinburgh and i was starving.

so i shook barclay awake and we visited a nearby grocery store and bought some croissants and fruit, and then we went for a great little walk by the water and up the street and into a park filled with swans.








we really liked the swans, but decided that they would be better in technicolor, so we got out our sharpies and made the appropriate edits.






just kidding. obviously.

we visited some charity shops and mucked around the park, and then we walked to grandma and grandpa's house, where we were fed and fed and fed until our bellies grew round and large and we imagined our eyes filling up and spilling out delicious scottish broth. {after all, your body is only so large--if you eat so much, where else is it going to go? down into your legs? don't be ridiculous.}

we spent the afternoon being shown yellowed photographs of relatives and weddings and vacations and other miscellaneous special events and we shared our pictures of inverness and nairn and the isle of skye. and as soon as the food had settled in us, we were fed some more. it was a fantastic time.

part-way through the afternoon, the phone rang and it was another of barclay's cousins, who lives up the coast in aberdeen. barclay chatted for a bit and then hung up. "you up for another train ride?" he asked.

and of course i was.

{part 14>>>}