Mark E Shellshear.

  Chapter 9. Christmas day. Sam showered and was coming down the stairs for breakfast and she saw Chloe and Jenny telling the men where to put the large Christmas tree, it was covered in beautiful decorations. The maids were placing chairs all around the room, Sam walked down to them and Chloe said. “Sammy, don’t you love the Christmas tree, aren't the decorations beautiful? And look at all the presents around it, they are for our guests who will be arriving soon.” “ You have guests coming?” “ Yes, my mother and her sisters, some cousins, some of my nieces and nephews and Jenny’s mum and dad are coming as well, they are staying near by, our van will go and pick them up soon, come lets eat.” Chloe and Sam went into the dining room and they had some fruit for breakfast. Sam was feeling much stronger, she looked up and saw that Chloe was looking at her and Chloe said. “Not many of my relatives speak English, my mother does as she works for a multinational company and has to ...

  Chapter 8. Saturday. Sam and Chloe were having breakfast when a visitor arrived and Jenny came in and spoke to Chloe in Korean, Chloe excused herself and went into the lounge room. Some time later Sam heard a man yelling in Korean, he sounded quite threatening, Sam thought that Chloe was in danger, she jumped up and ran into the lounge room. Chloe was sitting on the lounge bowed over, crying, her hands covering her face and a tall man standing over her, yelling at her. Sam yelled out. “Stop, and get away from her.” The man spun around with anger in his eyes and said, “What, who are you? Are you going to stop me?” “ Yes, if I have to.” “ If you don’t leave I will come and make you leave.” “ You can try, but I am not leaving and get away from my Chloe.” The mans anger rose to boiling point and he started walking quickly towards Sam. He lunged, hand raised in anger. Sam pivoted, with a spinning kick, driving her heal into his sternum. The air was forced out of his lu...

  Chapter 7. Tuesday. It had been two days since Sam woke and she was sitting up in bed, Chloe walked out of the bathroom and all she had on was a bra and panties, Sam grasped and Chloe looked at her and smiled and said. “Good morning Sammy, how are you feeling?” “ A lot better, I will try and get up and have a shower by myself.” Chloe was putting on a pair of red shorts and a black Zoir singlet and when she had done so she walked over to Sam and said. “Do you want me to help you?” “ I should be fine, thank you.” As she lifted the covers off herself. “ All your cloths and underwear is in these drawers, it’s all here, let me see you stand up.” Sam sat up, swung her feet over the edge of the bed, it felt good to feel the carpet under her feet, she was still a little unsure as she stood up, she was so happy to be out of the bed. “ I should be fine, let me get some underwear and cloths and take them into the bathroom.” “ Your towel is the yellow one, mine is the pink one, e...

  Chapter 6. Cold. Chloe had been gone three weeks, winter had come and the cold was relentless. Sam was surprised to see that there was so much snow on the ground, it was piled up around her house, all the trees were white and even though Sam was rugged up, in a heavy coat, she still felt cold. Sam had never experienced a winter like this, the cold seemed to penetrate deep inside of her, she could not get warm no matter what she did. Weeks passed, standing at her easel she began to realise that painting was becoming a painful process. Brushes slipped between her stiff fingers, just holding the brushes felt as if her fingers were burning. The pain in her naked fingers made Sam cry, she could only work in bursts, gloves on, gloves off for a brief periods before she had to put the gloves back on to warm her fingers. The studio heater hissed uselessly. Everything she did became labour some, because of the brutal cold. The heater in the studio made little difference, she ha...