When The World Stops Cold
Posted: Thu Dec 06, 2018 5:41 pm
Since it appears we are doing an advent calendar here, and someone posts a new story daily (many thanks to PKMN Thief Chris and Stiles Long for helping me edit this):
Story for: Kiith
Prompt: It is the evening of December 31st. Hisao and whomever he holds dearest in his heart took a little time off to have a walk through the nearby snowy forest. They intend to be back in time to celebrate the new year together with Hisao's family. However, as they often do, things go not quite as planned.
When The World Stops Cold
Snowflakes drifting down on the light breeze, the scene is silent around us as we walk leisurely through the carpet of white.
“Are you sure about this?” I ask my partner, her arm linked in mine. “It’s not too late to…”
This brings out a slight giggle from my companion as she says, “It sounds almost like you’re scared.” Her eyes, hidden behind sunglasses even at this late hour, scan around us as we walk.
Damn right I’m scared. This spot, which could have been the final spot, still haunts my nightmares.
With the sun nearing the horizon, the sky was shifting in color, already a deep purple along the horizon. I did not even need to look at my watch to know what time it was. Just past 4, same as it was 11 months before.
Despite the late hour, her precautions stay in place. Long gloves, tights under her thick dress, sunglasses, and the ever-present parasol overhead. All were colored today a pale blue. Accenting it, white, lace mainly, matching her hair. Even in the dead of winter, she always wants to be the prettiest thing to be seen. A perfect lady.
A doll of porcelain in a field of white, the scene is nothing if not serene. And on her arm, me.
“I don’t think I’ve worn this since…” I tell her, looking down at my thick coat. “This feels weird.”
“Weird can sometimes be good. But, you need to stop being afraid, Hisao. You can’t keep running for the rest of your life.”
Closing my eyes, I can only nod.
It is winter break. School is going well for us both. We should be enjoying life. But, once in awhile I still wake up in a panic, afraid of what happened last February. Always in a field of white. Always in these woods. Always with snowflakes drifting down.
When the forecast called for snow, she insisted we take the time to visit this place.
Nearly a year, and it hasn’t changed a bit. The trees barren of life, merely sticks peeking out of the virgin snow.
Holidays here were pleasant. Her family for part of the time, mine… well, I got to see them for a few hours at least. Buckets of fried chicken for a holiday meal. I have to wonder if it really does taste the same as back in Kentucky.
She leads me to the spot where I stood so long ago, and I stare off into the woods. Summertime, this place is always alive. Always filled with people.
Now, silence surrounds us.
I look over at where I used to play soccer with Takumi and Shin, kicking the ball around for fun. In that direction, school. Still can’t believe Mr. Tachibana teaches. I really expected him to retire by now.
We’ve been dating now for, how many months now? A Tanabata confession, still so romantic. My little half hearted sweetie finally putting how she feels into words.
A sudden buzz draws my attention to my pocket. Pulling out my phone I flip it open.
“Hicchan, sorry to tell you but work…” my mother starts explaining even before I have said hello.
“Had to call you in, I understand,” I complete the often heard sentence.
“Oh, thank you for understanding. I’ll try and be back in time for new years. See you both at home.” the line goes dead.
My pale companion just sighs, a knowing twinkle in her eyes.
I can only chuckle. “No surprises here.”
She can only shake her head. Then, shaking her parasol to clear it of snow, she reaches out a hand to grab my arm. “Then, what shall we do?”
When her fob watch alarm goes off, she smiles. “It’s time.”
Sighing, I pull out both of our pill carriers and a bottle of water - my burden due to these magical elements called ‘pockets’ which clothing designers seem to leave out of women’s fashion. “Will I ever get used to this?”
“It has not yet even been a year for you,” she reminds me. “You’ve got plenty of time to get used to it.”
Swallowing, she finishes in under a second before handing me the bottle of water to take mine. I join her a moment later, having taken down my late afternoon pill.
“Now, what do you want me to do?” I ask her, taking a cautious look to the sky as the wind starts to pick up slightly.
“Wander over in that direction,” she gestures.
Used to her giving instructions when she was planning something, I fold her parasol and hand it back to her. I start walking in that direction, waiting for her to tell me to stop.
When the snowball hits the back of my head, I take it as that signal, bending over and spinning around to return fire.
She ducks down behind the parasol, giggling.
“Cheater,” I cry out.
The thin girl screams as I rush over, a glove full of snow ready to go down the back of her jacket.
“Yield, yield,” she says as I stand over her.
“Yield?” I ask, amused at this. “And what do I get if I accept?”
“Anything you want,” she says, giggling.
“Oh? Anything?”
The devilish look on her face tells me what she means.
I step back slightly as she stands up, and presses herself against me before kissing me softly. As our lips separate, she whispers softly, “Anything.”
A gust of wind, and her parasol flies away, her hand failing to keep hold of it.
“Hold that thought,” I tell her, and I set out to retrieve it.
Every time I get close, the wind picks up, carrying it further out of reach. After awhile, annoyance sets in, as it seems more that nature is playing games with me than anything else.
Finally it gets stuck against a pair of trees growing close together. Grabbing it, I dust the snow off and fold it up, before looking back.
She’s nowhere in sight.
“Hello?” I cry out. “Where’d you go?”
Following my footprints backs works for awhile, but after about a dozen meters, the wind and snow have all but obliterated them.
Around me, the snow keeps coming down, ever harder, even as the wind picks up.
These woods aren’t that big. But as I wander, I am starting to wonder if I would suddenly run across a lamp post with a wary faun running past.
Twirling around the closed parasol, I slowly walk in the direction I think I came from. Man the wind has picked up. Plus with the show coming down harder… this may not have been the best idea.
A slight whisper of noise was the only warning before a batch of snow falls on my head. Looking up, the thin braid of the girl I was searching for falls and bats me in the face.
“Why you…” I groan, brushing the snow off even as she hangs upside down from the branch immediately above me, laughing, her sunglasses no longer on her face, revealing the deep brown, almost red eyes that hid behind them. In all fairness, I must have looked positively ridiculous.
“Hey,” she says.
Instinctively, I hold my arms out just as Rika lets go with her legs, causing us both to fall into the lightly packed snow.
So, laying in the snow, a featherweight pale girl above me, I find her with a wide smile on her face. “So, now two girls have caused you to collapse in the snow. What’s next?” she asks, a slight twinkle in her eye.
I can only laugh, looking at her there with her hands folded under that chin of hers. “Whatever we want, I suppose,” I tell her, to which she gets a distinctive twinkle in her eyes.
‘Uh oh,’ goes my mind as I recognize that look.
“Whatever, huh?” she says, slowly walking fingers up my chest. “Be careful what you offer Mr. Nakai. A girl might get the wrong impression.” Pausing a moment, the puts a finger up to my lips. “So, with your father working late, and your mother called back into work, it means your house is… empty right now. And with snow all over our clothes, we’d best get back there and out of them before we catch chill.”
“That sounds like an excellent idea, Miss Katayama,” I tell her, holding my arm out for her hand.
Bad dreams, nightmares, and dead memories all lay forgotten in the snow as we wander off, two happy people in love.
Story for: Kiith
Prompt: It is the evening of December 31st. Hisao and whomever he holds dearest in his heart took a little time off to have a walk through the nearby snowy forest. They intend to be back in time to celebrate the new year together with Hisao's family. However, as they often do, things go not quite as planned.
When The World Stops Cold
Snowflakes drifting down on the light breeze, the scene is silent around us as we walk leisurely through the carpet of white.
“Are you sure about this?” I ask my partner, her arm linked in mine. “It’s not too late to…”
This brings out a slight giggle from my companion as she says, “It sounds almost like you’re scared.” Her eyes, hidden behind sunglasses even at this late hour, scan around us as we walk.
Damn right I’m scared. This spot, which could have been the final spot, still haunts my nightmares.
With the sun nearing the horizon, the sky was shifting in color, already a deep purple along the horizon. I did not even need to look at my watch to know what time it was. Just past 4, same as it was 11 months before.
Despite the late hour, her precautions stay in place. Long gloves, tights under her thick dress, sunglasses, and the ever-present parasol overhead. All were colored today a pale blue. Accenting it, white, lace mainly, matching her hair. Even in the dead of winter, she always wants to be the prettiest thing to be seen. A perfect lady.
A doll of porcelain in a field of white, the scene is nothing if not serene. And on her arm, me.
“I don’t think I’ve worn this since…” I tell her, looking down at my thick coat. “This feels weird.”
“Weird can sometimes be good. But, you need to stop being afraid, Hisao. You can’t keep running for the rest of your life.”
Closing my eyes, I can only nod.
It is winter break. School is going well for us both. We should be enjoying life. But, once in awhile I still wake up in a panic, afraid of what happened last February. Always in a field of white. Always in these woods. Always with snowflakes drifting down.
When the forecast called for snow, she insisted we take the time to visit this place.
Nearly a year, and it hasn’t changed a bit. The trees barren of life, merely sticks peeking out of the virgin snow.
Holidays here were pleasant. Her family for part of the time, mine… well, I got to see them for a few hours at least. Buckets of fried chicken for a holiday meal. I have to wonder if it really does taste the same as back in Kentucky.
She leads me to the spot where I stood so long ago, and I stare off into the woods. Summertime, this place is always alive. Always filled with people.
Now, silence surrounds us.
I look over at where I used to play soccer with Takumi and Shin, kicking the ball around for fun. In that direction, school. Still can’t believe Mr. Tachibana teaches. I really expected him to retire by now.
We’ve been dating now for, how many months now? A Tanabata confession, still so romantic. My little half hearted sweetie finally putting how she feels into words.
A sudden buzz draws my attention to my pocket. Pulling out my phone I flip it open.
“Hicchan, sorry to tell you but work…” my mother starts explaining even before I have said hello.
“Had to call you in, I understand,” I complete the often heard sentence.
“Oh, thank you for understanding. I’ll try and be back in time for new years. See you both at home.” the line goes dead.
My pale companion just sighs, a knowing twinkle in her eyes.
I can only chuckle. “No surprises here.”
She can only shake her head. Then, shaking her parasol to clear it of snow, she reaches out a hand to grab my arm. “Then, what shall we do?”
When her fob watch alarm goes off, she smiles. “It’s time.”
Sighing, I pull out both of our pill carriers and a bottle of water - my burden due to these magical elements called ‘pockets’ which clothing designers seem to leave out of women’s fashion. “Will I ever get used to this?”
“It has not yet even been a year for you,” she reminds me. “You’ve got plenty of time to get used to it.”
Swallowing, she finishes in under a second before handing me the bottle of water to take mine. I join her a moment later, having taken down my late afternoon pill.
“Now, what do you want me to do?” I ask her, taking a cautious look to the sky as the wind starts to pick up slightly.
“Wander over in that direction,” she gestures.
Used to her giving instructions when she was planning something, I fold her parasol and hand it back to her. I start walking in that direction, waiting for her to tell me to stop.
When the snowball hits the back of my head, I take it as that signal, bending over and spinning around to return fire.
She ducks down behind the parasol, giggling.
“Cheater,” I cry out.
The thin girl screams as I rush over, a glove full of snow ready to go down the back of her jacket.
“Yield, yield,” she says as I stand over her.
“Yield?” I ask, amused at this. “And what do I get if I accept?”
“Anything you want,” she says, giggling.
“Oh? Anything?”
The devilish look on her face tells me what she means.
I step back slightly as she stands up, and presses herself against me before kissing me softly. As our lips separate, she whispers softly, “Anything.”
A gust of wind, and her parasol flies away, her hand failing to keep hold of it.
“Hold that thought,” I tell her, and I set out to retrieve it.
Every time I get close, the wind picks up, carrying it further out of reach. After awhile, annoyance sets in, as it seems more that nature is playing games with me than anything else.
Finally it gets stuck against a pair of trees growing close together. Grabbing it, I dust the snow off and fold it up, before looking back.
She’s nowhere in sight.
“Hello?” I cry out. “Where’d you go?”
Following my footprints backs works for awhile, but after about a dozen meters, the wind and snow have all but obliterated them.
Around me, the snow keeps coming down, ever harder, even as the wind picks up.
These woods aren’t that big. But as I wander, I am starting to wonder if I would suddenly run across a lamp post with a wary faun running past.
Twirling around the closed parasol, I slowly walk in the direction I think I came from. Man the wind has picked up. Plus with the show coming down harder… this may not have been the best idea.
A slight whisper of noise was the only warning before a batch of snow falls on my head. Looking up, the thin braid of the girl I was searching for falls and bats me in the face.
“Why you…” I groan, brushing the snow off even as she hangs upside down from the branch immediately above me, laughing, her sunglasses no longer on her face, revealing the deep brown, almost red eyes that hid behind them. In all fairness, I must have looked positively ridiculous.
“Hey,” she says.
Instinctively, I hold my arms out just as Rika lets go with her legs, causing us both to fall into the lightly packed snow.
So, laying in the snow, a featherweight pale girl above me, I find her with a wide smile on her face. “So, now two girls have caused you to collapse in the snow. What’s next?” she asks, a slight twinkle in her eye.
I can only laugh, looking at her there with her hands folded under that chin of hers. “Whatever we want, I suppose,” I tell her, to which she gets a distinctive twinkle in her eyes.
‘Uh oh,’ goes my mind as I recognize that look.
“Whatever, huh?” she says, slowly walking fingers up my chest. “Be careful what you offer Mr. Nakai. A girl might get the wrong impression.” Pausing a moment, the puts a finger up to my lips. “So, with your father working late, and your mother called back into work, it means your house is… empty right now. And with snow all over our clothes, we’d best get back there and out of them before we catch chill.”
“That sounds like an excellent idea, Miss Katayama,” I tell her, holding my arm out for her hand.
Bad dreams, nightmares, and dead memories all lay forgotten in the snow as we wander off, two happy people in love.