Phoenix Hearts

Bargaining

"It's not that we have to quit

this life one day, but it's how

many things we have to quit

all at once: music, laughter,

the physics of falling leaves,

automobiles, holding hands,

the scent of rain, the concept

of subway trains... if only one

could leave this life slowly!"

― Roman Payne, Rooftop Soliloquy

Caitlin

23 days, 1 hour, 56 minutes, 43 seconds.....

Winter in Michigan was cold. Bone chilling cold. A cold so intense that the only thing you feel is a stinging in your finger tip and your eyes water. I hated the mind-numbing pain that snow caused when you rolled around making snow angels all day, but Duncan loved it. He'd force me out into the snow with promises of steaming hot chocolate and extra large marshmallows, and in the end we created a sopping wet mess of jackets and gloves in the foyer.

"Should've moved to Florida," Mom would always say, shooting us dirty looks. "Then I wouldn't have to clean up solid chunks of ice from the floor."

Although I guess now that he's gone there'll never be reason for us to move anywhere. During the reception at my house a slight flurry had begun to fall, but by this time the snow was blowing down in full force, covering everything in a white blanket. I walked through the storm, making my way down the street. Flakes of ice hit my cheeks, leaving a burning trail across my face. I hated snow.

"Hey, wait up! Not everyone has Thor-like powers that allow them to run through two feet of snow. " I turned around and saw Parker slowly navigating his way towards me in the deep snow, forcing his body against the foreign winds of the blizzard. Ignoring his obvious struggle, I turned back around and continued down my path.

"Caitlin! Slow down!" Despite the roaring blizzard, all I could hear was Parker's ridiculously loud groans of distress.

Annoyed, I turned towards him once more, "Don't you live in Chicago? You literally live in the windiest city where it snows practically everyday, and you can't handle a little bad weather?" This boy had been getting on my nerves ever since he reappeared in this godforsaken little town.

"Hey," he started defensively, "for the record, we live two hours away from Chicago, and the whole wind thing is a bit of an exaggeration if you ask me. I can handle a little storm like this," at this he puffed his chest and stood up a little straighter, "but don't expect any miracles. What are you, Wonder Woman? You're literally dashing through the snow right now while my feet are practically getting buried with every step I take."

Despite what had happened in my bedroom, I could help but sigh at his idiotic comments. "I run track. Sometimes we use weights while running, so I'm used to it. Nobody asked you to follow me anyways; go back to the warm and cosy death house. Your complaining is irritating," I snapped. Here he is, some preppy little boy in town for only a couple of days, and he was already pushing my buttons.

"Geez, my bad. It was suffocating in that 'death house', " he said, motioning air quotation marks with his fingers. "Do you mind if I come with you if I shut up?"