Short Stories

The First Snow

It was an early afternoon in November and the sun was up high in the white sky. Snow lightly fell onto the ground and then disappeared. It was the first snow of winter, in a small corner of the world. In that corner, was a small hidden restaurant and inside the hidden little restaurant, behind the glass, was a woman and man sitting across from each other at a table. Her cheeks were slightly red and the tip of her nose was too. Her eyes held a light while she searched for a one in his. She let out a long breath and began to speak, "Please, don't be mad." She looked down at her hands wrapped around the warm cup of hot chocolate.
"Just tell me what it is," he replied venomously.
"I'm pregnant," she searched into his eyes but he refused to hold her gaze. Only a couple seconds passed, but her anticipation grew stronger by each millisecond. Still, she held onto hope in her heart.
"Are you gonna get an abortion like you said you would?" He immediately asked.
"I'm keeping it," she replied.
"But you literally told me it was safe and that if you were to get pregnant, you would take care of it. You said it yourself, you aren't ready for a kid," he said.
"Yes, I said that under the impression that I couldn't have kids."
"So you lied to me?"
"No, I literally thought I couldn't have kids and that's why I said it was safe..."
"Don't come to me with this bullshit, you told me you would take care of it if the time came, well now's the time," he sneered.

Her eyes began to fill up with tears, but she gathered the strength to say, "People say things, but when it finally came down to it and the nurse asked me what I wanted to do, in that moment I decided to keep the baby."
He sucked through his teeth.
She began to speak again after not hearing a reply, "I just want you to be there for the baby."
"You are putting me in a position I never wanted to be in and now you're asking me for shit? You decided to have this baby. You can raise it by yourself," he replied. He stood up and started to put on his coat.

"But I'm not even asking you for money! I just want you to be there for our baby!" She exclaimed with tears falling down her face. She stood up and reached for his shoulder but he jerked it back, repulsed by her touch.

"Figure it out yourself," was the last thing he said before turning his back on her and walking away.

A huge pit in her stomach fell and she couldn't hold back her tears any longer. She quickly covered her mouth with her hands to stop any sounds from escaping. Her heart screamed in anguish at the fate of her unborn child. All of the mistakes she had made in the past were thrown in her face, she couldn't help but blame herself for repeating the same mistakes; For falling into the same cycle.

After what seemed like hours, she finally regained control of her emotions. She accepted her reality, but not her fate, the future was yet to be determined. She stood up, left a generous tip on the table and walked towards the door of the restaurant not looking down at the ground once. She pulled the hood of her coat over her head as she prepared to face the cold winter wind. The bells of over the restaurant door jingled as the door shut behind her