'Tis The Season: A Wattpad Christmas Countdown

Snow

Day 6
{written by the eloquent Galatianssixfive }

I couldn't take it any longer. Life had gone away with me. What good was there to anything anymore? I clicked off my facebook. After looking at everyone's gleeful photos and reading about all their holiday festivities, I felt hopeless. It was like the final nail in my coffin. Dropping my phone into my oversized patch pocket on my sweater, I bundled up and headed out the door of Mabry's dingy coffee shop.

The freezing wind caught my breath. "Brrrrr." I snuggled deeper into my coat. The sky looked gloomy and the clouds ominous. Almost like they were begging to give birth to a wintery delight of snow, sleet, rain, or whatever a December night in the East could muster up. "Hmpf," I grunted. "It figures. The weather fits the rest of this crappy Christmas Eve anyway so, BRING-IT-ON!" I shouted at the sky.

Keeping my head down to stave off wind-chapped cheeks, I made my way towards my apartment. I guessed I would do some painting. It always made me feel better, though not that it would accomplish anything. None of my paintings had sold, I couldn't get a gallery to even look at them, nor had I secured a job in my field of study. Heartbroken was an understatement for what I was feeling. All I'd ever wanted to do since I was a little girl was paint. All that work, schooling and dedication amounted to nothing but an apartment overflowing with paintings that looked better than the actual apartment itself.

My parents had predicted this. They said I would never make a living being an artist. Not that I wasn't talented, but they would say artists are a dime a dozen. Why couldn't I pick something practical and do my art on the side? They were generous though. My folks put me up in an apartment in the city for one year. If within that year I wasn't able to support myself, I would move back home and work in the family business. '"Now that's a reliable, practical job, Evie."' Mom would say.

Honestly, I was not an ungrateful person. I had it better than so many...I had my shot at my dream. Sadly though, when I had agreed to this deal I felt sure something big was going to happen. As the sand in the hourglass slipped away, I began to feel doomed. Doomed to a life of monotony just so I could pay the rent. I felt like a dog on a leash. Not just a dog, but a loser dog on a leash. I had failed miserably. Tomorrow's Christmas table was already being set with awkward silence and disappointed faces.

I had gotten so lost in my thoughts that I hadn't even noticed that the sky had taken me up on my challenge. Huge flakes of snow were billowing from above. It was already blanketing the ground.

"It looks like it's gonna be a real doozy." a passerby warned as he pointed upward.

"It sure does." I waved, nodding in agreement. Heading out to my parent's house in the morning was not looking so good. I'd better get a move on it and head out tonight. I may not want to move back home, but I loved my family and wanted to be with them for Christmas.

Looking both ways, I jogged across the street towards my apartment building. Almost as if the earth moved under my feet, I slipped on the curb and splayed out in front of my lobby door. The iciness of the sidewalk and my now battered body were becoming well acquainted. I wasn't sure if I should move for fear of something like a limb snapping off, but thought I'd better give it a try. Just then I felt a warm arm underneath my torso gently lifting me up to a standing position.

"Are you okay?" the stranger was still holding me to make sure I was balanced.

I turned my head to be greeted with a concerned look. This mystery man had a kind manner about him and stood inches above me. My voice was lost to me for a moment and it wasn't due to the winter acrobats that I had so elegantly displayed before this handsome guy.