diff --git a/lib/litestack/litekd.rb b/lib/litestack/litekd.rb
index 4adebdc..bb33e1f 100644
--- a/lib/litestack/litekd.rb
+++ b/lib/litestack/litekd.rb
@@ -7,8 +7,15 @@
   
 module Litekd
   
-  def self.connection
-    @@connection ||= Litekd::Connection.new(path: ":memory:")
+  DEFAULT_OPTIONS = {
+    path: Litesupport.root.join("kd.sqlite3"),
+    sync: 1,
+    mmap_size: 32 * 1024 * 1024, # 32MB
+  }
+  
+  def self.connection(options = {})
+    # configuration should be loaded here
+    @@connection ||= Litekd::Connection.new(DEFAULT_OPTIONS.merge(options))
   end
   
   # scalars
diff --git a/lib/litestack/litekd/composite.rb b/lib/litestack/litekd/composite.rb
index c0c2d8b..9753699 100644
--- a/lib/litestack/litekd/composite.rb
+++ b/lib/litestack/litekd/composite.rb
@@ -10,9 +10,9 @@ def initialize(key, typed: :string, default: nil, expires_in: nil, after_change:
       @key = key.to_s
       @conn = Litekd.connection
       @typed = typed || :string
+      @default = default
       @after_change = after_change
       @expires_in = expires_in&.to_f
-      @default = default
       add(default) if default
     end