My friend named Z.

Chapter 2: The uninvited guest

24th December 2010

The familiar silence and emptiness entrenched into me once again. This time however , it was just an hour before Christmas. Though i don't see the point , for it was just but another day. 

No. I never once celebrated it . Not once had i spent it with the ones dear to me , not once had i felt the comforting warmth and joy of it. The closest i got was a mere parcel sent from across the world. Though how extravagant it was , it would never cover up this black hole i call loneliness.

  As i dully tore apart the elaborate wrappings bound by a soft glistening ribbon , I wondered how everyone else was going to spend this supposedly joyous occasion. Then i remembered, Z.

I gazed towards the fireplace and began to wonder how she was. Christmas was , for her , a horrid torture chamber where only the strong would survive and suppress. Who'd blame her? All she got for Christmas each year was a life threatening "gift" credits to the chilly winter. I shivered at the thought and moved closer to the fire thanking God for the little yet essential things i had. 

I emptied my mind and tried to pay my dear friend a short little visit. But to no avail. The melody just wouldn't come. It had been like that out of late, or rather since the past year or so.  I some how could no longer go to the Netherlands anymore and thus my inability to 'visit' her. For a year, there had been a perpetual seed of worry in me.  The last time I saw Z was on my twelveth birthday, on a chilly winter night. I had a gut feeling that something must have happened to her. Hopefully not something dire....

" I'm so sorry Z. " I murmured  " I guess you'll have to do without me. Try to keep warm okay?".

 I pulled out the 101 colour pencil set and threw the remains of the wrappings into the fire, too lazy to walk over to the kitchen bin.

"At least i got what i wanted." I admired the finely crafted wooden points and its coloured tips. 

"Clog! Clog Clog!" The muffled clicking sound of a woman's high-heels echoed in my ear from the other side of the door.

"Mum?" My eyes lit up instantly and i ran towards the door as though Ferrari had an auto-show right outside my humble abode.

I swung open the usually heavy wooden door only to find no one in sight. All i could see was snow, more snow , and even more snow.  "Great. Now I'm not only lonely but also crazy."

I slammed the door disheartened.

"Knew it was too good to be true."

 All my parents did was work , work and work. If this drags on , i guess my only memory of them would be only photographic. Pity really. I went upstairs to my room but my response to what greeted my eyes was a huge ear-shattering scream.

My screams echoed through the deserted apartment as a pang of fear flushed through my heart. I made an attempt to dash down the stairs, only tumbling in the process probably due to the great extent of fear that was injected into me. I lay paralysed at the foot of the stairs despite how much i willed myself to get up. The shadow became larger and larger.

"Clog! Clog! Clog!" The clicking sound of the heels came again. I shut my eyes and screamed once more hoping that it would bring everything back to normal.

And as if a miracle happened. Everything became silent. I could only hear my rapid breathing and my heart thrumming through my ears. I gulped and slowly opened one eye , and then the other. 

What was to greet me but a pale navy haired lady with eyes as brown as the ceiling above me. I gasped and started screaming once more. I screamed and screamed and screamed.

The "surprised guest" somehow rolled her eyes as if out of annoyance , and slowly but surely , faded into nothing. Leaving me petrified , numb and all alone once more.

The church bell from across the road started to emit a low but loud chime.

It was now officially Christmas.