Snow

Hey you, whoever you are. Ive been very busy the past week with a school assignment and was trying to devote as much time as possible to my short story. It still needs a lot of work and I want to keep working on it. But, because I havent posted in a while, here it is! I hope this post was worth the wait or at least worth your time.

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Snow

She lay motionless on the ground. Alison’s hair lay in brown curls and tangles around her head. The snow was falling slowly around her. She probably only had a little while left. She knew that if she didn’t get help soon, she would die, lying on the deserted forest road. She never thought that she would go like this. The events of the past day took a large toll on her. Alison lay down and watched the snowflakes fall in the crisp morning breeze. They fell beautifully. Each unique, with its own crystallized pattern. They moved with the cold wind, in swirls, up and down. She thought, “The snow was falling so violently earlier. Now it seems to float down so slowly and so gracefully.” She tried extending her arm to touch the falling flakes but it was no use.

He was in the city about a three-hour drive away with the hustle and bustle of the busy streets below him. He was slaving away at his desk, working on the company’s newest proposal for the meeting taking place that afternoon. His dark brown locks distressed in a stylish fashion and his brown eyes contrasted by his freshly pressed steel grey suit. His boss popped into his office, “Carter! I need the presentation on my desk in an hour. You’re the best worker in the office. If everything goes according to plan then you’ll get that bonus you’ve been working towards.” So he continued typing away at his screen, blocking out the weekend's events from his mind as he worked quickly to finish his task.

Alison knew that Carter wouldn’t come after her. He never did. He was always working, even at home. She knew that he was, very much so, caught up in the business class façade. He wanted the perfect house, perfect job, perfect wife and a perfect family. But three years ago it was a different story. He had the perfect house, job, wife and family.

Alison and Carter were high school sweethearts, young and naïve but nonetheless the perfect couple, never fought or argued. They inspired and each other to follow their dreams. They had grand plans for the future. They envisioned themselves in a little house with a little baby of their own for they desperately wanted to be parents.

After graduation, Carter proposed and they got married. A few short weeks later Alison discovered that she was pregnant. The couple was overjoyed with happiness. Each day she would stay home and he would go to work. She didn’t mind staying home because she spent every single moment preparing for the arrival of their little boy or girl.

It was a beautiful spring day when they welcomed their daughter, whom they named Joy, into the world. She was 7.5 pounds and slightly yellow. She was taken away to get all cleaned up and the happy couple celebrated by calling their families to tell them of their good news. Alison noticed that 20 minutes passed as they were making calls. Another 10 minutes passed and they both began to worry. They asked the nurses and the staff about their daughter, but no one would give them any information.

After an hour of anxiously waiting, the doctor entered the room. He slowly walked over to the couple and began to speak,

“I’m so sorry. Once we got her cleaned up we noticed that there was an inconsistency in her heartbeat. We did all that we could but…”

Alison began to tear up and Carter, taking on a blank expression, cut the doctor off, replying,

“Thank you…”

They went home the next day to begin the strenuous task of calling their family and friends, whom they called the day before to tell them of the horrific news. Their loved ones showed great concern and support for the couple and helped them plan the funeral.

Each day after the funeral, they spoke less and less. Carter began to work longer hours, doing his best to push Joy from his mind. Many nights began with him stumbling home, in a drunken stupor. He would fling open the door and yell,

“H-h-h-honneyyyyy I-Im hoooome!” slurring his words.

Alison always did her best to comfort him and bring him to bed when he was like this. Sometimes she could to little in an effort to help him. Carter never physically hurt her. He actually hardly spoke to her.

As Alison lay on the cold ground, the snow collected around her, even melting when it landed on or near her, she thought back to their last argument, which took place only a day ago.

It was a cool Friday night around two in the morning. The evening was calm, the clear black sky, sprinkled with the millions upon millions of stars, as beautiful as ever. She was sitting in her little reading corner, located in the living room. She was reading George Orwell’s 1984 when she heard the car pull into the driveway. She gently placed her green pom-pom bookmark in the book and placed it on her little side table. She then walked over to the staircase and sat opposite the door. Shortly after, she heard the distinct “click” of the door, revealing her intoxicated husband standing over the threshold. As always she was concerned about his current state,

“Welcome home hon.”

“W-w-why Ar-re You shtill upp? Never m-mind. Immma shleep now.”

Before she could respond, he walked around her and began to make his way up the stairs. Alison gravitated towards the open door. The cool winter breeze only a whisper on her bare skin with only a light pink tank top and short on to protect her from the winter air. She walked outside and stood in the middle of the front lawn, starring up at the sky and observing the bright moon. She always thought the moon looked as though it was in great pain. As she contemplated the moon she felt the chill trail of snow falling gently onto her exposed skin. With a newfound sense of life she walked back inside the house and walked straight upstairs. She saw Carter sitting in the chair looking outside at the moon, similarly to what she had been doing only a few moments before. With an air of confidence she began to speak,

“Do you love me?”

He turned around and stared blankly at her.

“Carter! Answer me! Please say something… I need to know.”

He opened his mouth, as if he was about to speak, but instead closed his mouth and returned to his previous state focusing his attention back to the moon.

“Speak to me please! It’s been three years! You never talk to me anymore and hardly pay me any attention. Is it something I did? Did something happen at work? “

She could see his grip tighten on the leather armrest. He stood up abruptly and walked over to her,

“I don’t know! It isn’t you and it isn’t work! I don’t want to have this conversation with you right now!”

“If not now then when? Open up to me. Talk to me. I’m your wife! You should be able to tell me anything!”

“I don’t want to talk to you about this! I can’t stand to see you right now! I need to get out of this house!”

She mustered all her strength together and firmly stated,

“Don’t worry about me. I was just leaving.”

She grabbed her bag from her side of the bed and bolted down the stairs. She collected her book and her keys. After throwing on her boots and coat, she got the car keys out of the bowl, near the door, and rushed into the car.

This moment continued to replay in her head over and over until she made her way to their cabin up north. She thought, “He’s never yelled at me before. What the hell is going on with him?! And why the hell can’t he talk to me?!” The snow fell quickly in large fluffy chunks. They offered low visibility during her drive, but she knew these roads like the back of her hand.

After the long, three hour, journey she trekked through the snow to the little blue cabin up the hill. One she got inside she went to turn the heater on, ran to the bedroom and lay on the bed. Alison didn’t cry after she left the house and she wouldn’t cry now. No more tears would be wasted because of her husband’s behavior. She was going to have a final conversation with Carter tomorrow. He was going to choose her or she was going to ask for a divorce.

It was becoming more and more difficult for Alison to breathe. She was already short of breath and the snow, piling on her, became less and less appealing to her as it became heavier on her chest. She looked around and made her final farewells to the forest surrounding her, closing her eyes to wait for the cool kiss of death to take her away from the deserted forest road. Suddenly Alison heard the spinning of tires and the worn out muffler of an old car headed her way almost sounding like her neighbor’s car. “Hopefully they can see me or at least not run me over.” She said to herself. Her voice was weak. There would be no point in trying to yell out to the driver.

She tried listening again, but couldn’t hear the car. She began to close her eyes again but was interrupted by the slam of a car door and fast paced footsteps.

“Alison? Alison?! Oh God please be here.”

Carter called out as he made his way over to the pile of metal that used to be their car. He checked the driver’s seat and saw that there was blood on the wheel, dash and on the seat itself. He followed the footprints and drops of blood to a little mound of snow a few feet from the road.

“Alice! Can you hear me?”

He began to dig the snow and slowly uncovered her.

“Alice, are you okay? What happened? Oh no… your head. You’re bleeding.”

Blinking her eyes open she saw deep brown eyes framed by a handsome chiseled face, curly hair and an over grown shadow. His eyes were tired and his expression was grave.

“I-I didn’t think you would come for me…”, she said.

“I'm so so sorry love. I didn’t mean to yell at you. God this is all my fault! If I just… After our argument… I don’t know what’s happened to me… After Joy…”

“D-don’t worry. I-I-I get it. I just wish we could have worked out. We wanted the same future but we couldn’t work together. I did love you though…”

“I still love you. An that’s why you can’t leave me. I’ve been seeing a therapist. I want to get better. Every night I would go to the bar with my colleagues and got drunk. But for what? I wanted to forget Joy but I couldn’t handle not having her. I wanted to have a family with you so badly and I didn’t know how to cope. I’m sorry Alison. I’ve neglected you for the past three years. Only God knows how you’ve been able to stay with me. Now I’m asking you to stay. An ambulance should be here soon. Just stick it out. I promise I’ll get better. Please…”

“I'll try… I’m just so cold and I c-cant feel my arms or legs. Its hard t-to breath.”

Tears spilled out of Carters eyes.

“Just a little bit longer. Please Alice. They are coming.”

The sounds of distant alarms came into hearing distance. Carter let go of Alison and ran up the road a bit to get the ambulances attention. But it was too late. Carter ran back to her and held her in his arms; she continued to fade away until her eyes went cold.

Caitlyn