Whumptober+ Short Stories - Volume 2

Prompt 11 - Stitches

It was cold outside when Cosmo left his house that morning, clad in his winter boots and the heavy coat he had purchased last year in the fall. There wasn't much of a wind, but the temperature being lower than zero was enough to make up for it in full.

Cosmo didn't feel a thing.

Making his way down the path that led toward town (his mind wandering in an altogether different direction), he didn't even realize exactly when he began to veer downhill.

Easy to do when you're blind.

Which I wasn't...

Not until recently, anyway...

He kept walking. By the time a few minutes had passed, he had figured out that he was travelling in a downward slope. Considering there was only one slope that close to his home, putting two and two together wasn't hard.

He was headed for the river.

It's probably frozen over right now, though... He told himself, though his head hurt even thinking about it. This stood to reason, since he was still recovering from the accident. Raising a hand to his face, he slid his fingers under the bandage that ran over his useless eyes. Running his fingertips over the bridge of his nose and feeling the stitches holding the wound together, he sighed. He would probably have a scar to show, though it wasn't like he would ever see it.

I can't see anything...

It had been two weeks since he and his mom had been in that car accident, and he still hadn't gotten over the shock.

Or the loss.

Or the loneliness.

Cosmo kept going. He couldn't tell what direction he was headed, only that it was downhill. There was no sound of running water, so he failed to notice when he first stepped out on the icy surface of the frozen river. There was a thick enough layer of snow that he kept his footing easily, at least until he was several yards across.

It was then that he felt the ice move.

He stopped.

I can't go back...

There it was.

I don't know the way...

The sound of running water beneath his feet.

I'll never make it...

The ice beginning to give way.

With all the layers I'm wearing, I'll sink right away...

I'll drown...

CRACK!

So be it.