Short Stories

The Countdown

*written in 2016, unedited, and poorly written, read at your own risk

So much was going around the house on the last hour of 2015. 

Dad was yelling at Mom, and Mom was yelling back in rapid French, waving paperwork around. There was always a shortage of money, and the blame was tossed back and forth between the two adults. It was either the gambling problem Dad had, or Mom's extravagant spending habits. 

Upstairs, Mallory and Sarah were screaming at each other, spitting words nastier by the second, over a boy. Though, to their credit, the tension in the house had been building up this. In my opinion, they should've gotten mad at Bryan, who had cheated on Sarah with Mallory, but what would the younger sister know? 

Across the room from me, my brother's muffled sobs and his boyfriend's attempts to soothe him were very much audible through the paper thin walls. The anger and the sorrow of the entire household began to suffocate me. 

So, in order to escape, I took only my phone and my wallet and I bolted out of the house.

It was just that something that didn't feel right. 

I had to break free there and than. 

"Holly, where are you going!" Mom asked, stopping her rant for a few seconds.

"I'll be back soon." I slammed the door  and walked around my neighborhood aimlessly. 

I wasn't even worried about kidnappers and all that, which was saying a lot. 

Finally, under an actual working streetlamp with a decent bench, I sat there, lost in my thoughts. 

I was so lost I didn't hear anything until someone clamped their hand on my shoulder. 

"Stay away, I have pepper spray on me!" I jumped away, lying through my teeth. 

"Relax, I was just wondering why you're spending the last minutes of the year alone." A boy with ginger hair said with a slight chuckle. He looked familiar, probably a school mate. Elon? Eric? 

I sighed, looking down at the deserted streets of my neighborhood, "You know, trouble in paradise." 

He had a shadow of a smile on his face, "Ah, something I can relate to." 

I shared the smile, "Yeah. I'm Holly." 

"Elliot." Ah. That was his name. We shook hands and stood in awkward silence for awhile. 

"Come with me." Elliot began walking. 

I quickly trailed, "You know, strangers shouldn't follow strangers." 

He laughed slightly, "True. But we go to the same school. That doesn't exactly make us strangers."

We lapsed into silence once more. 

It stayed like that, until Elliot spoke once more. 

"Snow." Was all he said as the flakes themselves fell toward earth. 

"The magic of first snow." I whispered breathlessly, reaching out to touch the dancing snowflakes. 

Eventually, our hair were coating with flakes here and there before we continued on our aimless journey. 

My watch beeped. 

"11:30." I announced, enthralled by the way snow was. 

Delicate, yet beautiful. 

Yet still perfect while everything around it wasn't. 

"What's your story?" Elliot suddenly asked as we were walking. For some reason, my emotions spilled over and I began to pour my heart out to this virtual stranger. 

I smiled grimly, "My parents are really considering a divorce right now, and my sisters, the twins, are having their own relationship problems. They don't get it, family and friends come before relationships. But somehow, they managed to get those strings tangled up, and now, it's just a big wad of trouble. And god, they're just adding their voices to the screaming crescendo in my house. My older brother dropped out from college, just hanging around with the wrong crowd." 

I turned to Elliot with tears in my eyes, still held back, "And that's why I like being alone."

Elliot's smile was melancholic, "It started when I was 8." He took a sudden turn. 

"I was ditched at an orphanage, and ran away after 8 years of tolerance. And then, I made money. Sure, half of the things I did was probably against the law, but hey, I'm still alive and free." He gave me a tight lipped smile. 

"Where are we?" I asked, staring at the beautiful designs of a church. 

"Somewhere that overlooks the city. Come on!" He pulls me into a stairwell and we begin our small race up. 

Elliot reached there before me and he threw open the door. 

"C'mon, love." He raised his scarred arm and wrapped it around me. Those were a lot of scars.

I let him lead me to the balcony. 

"Look." Elliot whispered in my ear. 

"It's beautiful." I found myself whispering, snuggling closer to him. 

Almost everyone in town was by the Lake, we could see clearly from here. 

The fireworks were now up, exploding despite the snow still falling. 

And suddenly, it began. 

The Countdown. 

"10!" I glimpsed my mom and dad among them, smiling softly at the fireworks. 

"9!" Jake was snuggling with his boyfriend. 

"8!" Mallory and Sarah were laughing together and pointing at some other girls below them on the social ladder. Well, at least they made up. 

"7!"  I turned to Elliot. "Wow." I muttered.

"6!" Elliot smiled back, his dark eyes twinkling, "Wow, indeed." 

"5!" It was cold enough so that we could see our breaths swirling. 

"4!" Snow began falling down big time as if to make the best of it before the new year. 

"3!" Elliot and I leaned closer, "Yeah?" I asked. 

"2!" Elliot smirked, "You sure?" 

"1!" I nod, "To forever and always." 

"0! Happy New Years!" Our lips collided at last, the moment I was sure we were waiting for since we were young. 

Around us, cheers arose as our clocks ticked a second later, and the year turned 2016. 

And yet, the snow never stopped. It would mark our memories and keep them forever, it would always remember The Countdown of 2016.