As she walks through her bedroom on that cold, stormy winter
night, she couldn't help but wonder why she felt so alone. She crossed her arms
over her chest and ran her hands up and down her arms just to get the feeling
of warmth back into her muscles. The sense of loneliness creeping through her body
seemed to originate somewhere deep within her.
Why am I here alone? What can this winter storm
offer me except cold feet and a vacant house?
She thought of better days; days when she used to laugh
with friends, feel the love on her skin like sun on a summer’s day, and feel
the presents of loved ones around her. All that is gone now – it vanished along
with her dreams of beginning a life.
Why did it have to happen?
She sunk down on to her bed and put her face in her
hands. Tears didn’t come anymore; only drive empty heaves of breath that came
out empty just like her heart. Memories kept flashing through her mind: a
smile, a look, a passing caress of a hand, all causing the unrelenting pain
that only arrived when those fated memories seemed to come back.
Her head jerked up at the sound of footsteps. They were
soft, but without anyone else within her house she has grown accustom to
hearing every sound she could. They came slowly as if the maker of this sound
chose ever step with care; how you could her the amount of time this person has
walked the earth with every step they took.
Was it her mother
coming to check on her in this awful storm? Was it her neighbor coming to check
if she needed to start her generator? Was is the mailman? The dog walker who
frequently walks past her house? Or was it him coming to see her? Impossible, she thought with a sudden
weight in her chest larger than before.
They seemed to get closer now. She heard the floor board
by the heater creak and she knew it was only a matter of time before this
mystery person would make themselves known. She saw the feet before she saw the
face of her welcomed intruder. The feet were boney, white and frail. With
careful inspection, she realized that the feet she saw were actual bone. A
chill that was colder than her body ran through her. She ran her eyes from
their feet up the long black robe that swayed in the invisible, non-existent
breeze to their face. Her eyes widened a bit as she saw the head of a skeleton;
it was surrounded by a perfectly placed black hood.
She did not speak, because she knew what he was there
for. She took in a deep breath and stood up from her bed. The visitor tilted
its head to the side as if it were to ask a question. She nodded back, ready to
go. He extended a hand towards her and she went to grab it, but hesitated.
Was she ready? Was this a way out of her misery? Was this
the easy way out or the path that she was destined to take? What would her
family think, not that they would think very much at all? She took a deep
breath and took his hand. The only resonating reason within herself: to see her
beloved again.
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