[ COACH ] Mick
[ SONG | ARTIST ] Christmas Song | Owl City
[ WATTPAD WORD COUNT ] 1,404 words
I pulled my jacket closer to my body as the cold breeze swept by.
It was almost midnight but people were still out in the streets.
It’s Christmas Eve after all.
I ignored the crowd I passed by, focusing only on reaching the park of my childhood.
It's been years since I've last visited Lakewood. It's a small town at the end of the state, surrounded by bodies of water in the north and forests in the south, hence the name.
I haven't been back home in six years... seven, counting the year I ran away from my stepdad and my poor excuse of a mother who was too weak to stand on her own.
It's a memory I'd rather not remember. Every time that I do, it sends chills down my spine and I feel cold all over. I become tense and fear creeps its way inside me, paralyzing me with the lies that I am not safe.
A wash of relief flooded me as I saw the familiar bench where I used to sit in every time I heard my parents fighting. It was my only place of refuge... especially when my stepdad threatened to kill my mom whenever she'd hurt me.
I almost ran towards it, desperate, but a lone figure in the middle of the park stopped me.
I looked at the young man who was maybe my age, with brown locks and ocean blue eyes; he wore a black coat, with a red and brown scarf that covered his neck, and his hands were in his pockets.
He was staring heavenwards as his lips move, though from where I stood, it was barely audible.
It didn't matter.
I didn't come here for him.
I came here for myself.
I sat at the bench and closed my eyes, just like how I used to, and reveled in the stillness of the night. Not long after, I heard footsteps, and then felt someone sitting beside me.
I opened my eyes to see the same young man sitting to my left, a soft smile adorning his face.
"It's a lovely night, don't you think?" He asked, his eyes still looking at the dark sky.
"Yes…" I replied, not really knowing what to say. I rarely had a "lovely" night in Lakewood.
"Do you think it'll snow?"
I looked at the sky and wondered for a moment, not quite sure of anything at all. "It might. It's pretty cold tonight so... maybe."
His smile grew a little wider. "I hope so. My sister really loves snow. She rarely got the chance to enjoy it though." There was a quiet sadness in his voice that I couldn't quite place. I hated it.
"How come?" Of course, his answer only made it worse.
"She was always a sickly little girl. She... died early October." He whispered, as if saying the words aloud would make it more real. And I understood him. But what I couldn't understand was why there was still a smile on his lips despite the pain that mirrored in his eyes. "I was supposed to take her out for dinner but... now that she's gone, I don't have anything to do."
"I'm sorry to hear that." I could only imagine how hard it is to lose someone you truly care about like that.
He only shook his head, his smile still there, as he turned to look at me. "Don't be. I miss her but... it's all okay now."
"All okay?" How did that happen? His sister just died. How can he be okay with it?
"Heaven." He quietly answered, his eyes traveling once again to the sky, then back at me. "She's home."
