Golden hour glow and favorite boots – doesn’t get much better than this! Feeling cozy and content wrapped up in our simple life today, sipping coffee & chasing those autumn leaves. A little bit of mag...

The cable knit feels scratchy tonight, doesn't it? Not unpleasant, not entirely – it used to be perfect. Like everything was perfect then, didn't it? A little dust motes dancing in the light, a glass always half full, even when we knew it wasn’t quite… Now it’s more often half empty, isn’t it? We haven't said "not much" in ages, though. That's comforting, in a way. Silently comfortable.

Of course, you don’t think so. It’s never been about us, has it? Always about the angles of the room, the slight shift in the light over the bookshelf, which is why there’s usually such quiet here. Or thought to be. Tonight, though, it felt different than usual. The kettle whistled for a while, too loud maybe, startled us both out of our shells. And your gaze, well, yours caught ours. For just a heartbeat.

Thatched your hair back then, remember? Effortlessly. Now it's a bit frayed around the edges, like one of the favourite scarves tucked onto the chair. Did he say something wrong? He does tend to, sometimes. Quietly frustrating.

See the hint of stubbornness in our eyes? In your eye. We weren’t expecting you to come all these years, were we? Just a visit, perhaps. Nothing dramatic. Though, hadn’,t expected him to leave either. Didn't really fight hard enough, did we?

So, there you stand. A little hesitant, certainly. Maybe a touch wary. Well, we shouldn't look so surprised, should we? Looked up from our book for only a minute.

A small smile playing on our lips, anyway. Isn’t that right? See, easy, isn't it? Doesn't need to be anything grand. Just acknowledge the stillness, the warmth of the fire...and maybe, just maybe, let yourself admit it hasn’t been all bad. Not yet.”

Notes:

• We assumed a somewhat melancholic but ultimately hopeful mood - adjust details to suit!
• Lots of visual cues to consider from the picture itself – let those shine through.

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