[ COACH ] Ken
[ SONG | ARTIST ] Underneath The Tree | Kelly Clarkson
[ WATTPAD WORD COUNT ] 985 words
Snow carpeted the entire place and as far as her eyes could see, nothing dots the white expanse that she was seeing. The blank vastness in front of her was lonely and depressing, but she was contentedly leaning against a huge tree that was surprisingly the only thing that could be found on that place.
"You're here again."
She heard him slowly moved and sat beside her. She wanted to turn her head to see him but she just closed her eyes and savoured the comfortable silence between them.
"Does it bother you that I'm here?"
She listened to the occasional howl of the wind around them as she waited for his answer. Being in that place was a refreshing diversion to her messy reality. She had a chance to relax her mind and still her heart from all the dramas of her life. This was her distraction, her haven.
"No. I have nothing against you being here, it's just that, you were beginning to lose yourself in here. This is not your world. You should remember that."
She slowly opened her eyes and turned her head to look at him, but as always, he have already disappeared before she could even take a glimpse of him. She gave a small smile at the place he should have been sitting, fighting the overwhelming sadness that overtook her.
Lately, every night, when she closed her eyes, she would always find herself in that place, surrounded with snow. The solitude and peace that this place offered were not the only reason why she kept coming back to this place but also because of him. That faceless guy who suddenly appeared in her strange dream became a fixed figure in her mind. But she could not understand why every time she wanted to see his face, he would already be gone. She wanted to see his face but he never gave her a chance, and now, it looked like he was drivng her away from that place - that only place where she could see him.
"Until my next dream, faceless guy..."
Her dream world swirled into darkness as her sister's overly sweet voice wrenched her out into reality. Then, she heard the loud banging on her door even before she felt her soft mattress on her back. Frustrated, she blinked her eyes twice and then sighed at her white ceiling.
"Ella, get up. You can't live in your room forever, you know."
"Go away, Anya," she mumbled but it was muffled by the pillow that she buried her face into.
"You know that you can't run away, right?" She heard her shuffling behind her door before she heard footsteps walked away from her room.
She sighed and forced herself to get up. As she sat, her hazy vision was met by her snow-covered window and the pale reflection of herself in the window. She stared at herself and it stared back at her. Her once lively, bright eyes were now a pair of dull, brown orbs. Empty and lifeless.
Bland... Just like the snow in this world.
***
"You know that you should not be here, right?"
Her heart thumped with anticipation when she wirled around to face him, but as always, he was not there.
"Where are you?" She was turning around as she talked. She badly wanted to see his face.
"Go back, Ella. Face reality."
"Who are you? How did you know my name?" She was getting frustrated at this little game that he was playing. She just wanted to see his face! Why couldn't he just let her?
"You know me." She froze when she suddenly felt his warm breath behind her left ear. She wanted to turn around and face him but he had his hands on either side of her waist. "Just go back, Ella. Remember and face reality."
His voice vanished with her snow world and she gasped for air as she woke up inside her darkened room. She turned her face to her window and she saw the blinking lights outside, and she remembered.
Her tears gushed out of her eyes as she threw away her blanket and snatched her coat. She was putting it on when she ran past her surprised family in the living room. She ignored her sister's shouts and her father's orders. All that was just on her mind was the great need to see him - to see him again.
She ran and ran until she was surrounded with bright lights and merry laughter. She looked around and saw people laughing together, the place lighting up the snowy night with its festive merrymaking. She could also hear the children's carols all the way from the end of the street as she walked into a huge building. It brought a small pinch of pain in her heart but she shook it off.
Her wet face was freezing from the cold but her heart was warm all over as she stood outside his door. It has been a year since she set foot inside his room. It has been a year, and she's scared.
What if he was still asleep?
What if he was still in coma?
What if he never wakes up?
Thoughts of the accident in the snow a year ago kept playing on her mind as her heart raced wildly when she turned the doorknob open. She gingerly stepped inside and a new batch of fresh tears cascaded down her face at the sight that met her.
The sobs that racked through her body was so great that she felt weak standing on her feet. She couldn't believe it. He's awake, sitting with his hospital gown on with a bandage on his head and smiling lovingly at her. He's finally awake!
"I told you, didn't I? Just go back and face reality."
With a cry of happiness, she rushed into his open arms and she basked in his warmth, crying again and again.
"I thought you'll never come back and I was just so happy right now that I could wish for Christmas to never end."
