The Girl Named Ai

A snowy night before christmas

The snow seemed so warm and beautiful, yet it felt so cold. It was Christmas Eve, I was walking home alone in the snow after being stood up by my date. My emotions were almost unbearable, it felt as if there was something missing in my heart, a void which is yet to be filled. The street lights above were constantly flickering, everything seemed bleak as if the light in me was abruptly extinguished. Every step I took felt heavy, my mind was in disarray, everything felt meaningless. As gloomy thoughts raced through my mind, the sky above continued to darken. Dancing snowflakes falling soundlessly from the pitch black sky, blanketing the ground around me in pure white snow. It felt cold.

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She dashed through the snow. Each step making a peculiar crunch as deep footprints were left in her wake. Her short yet silky hair fluttered against the cold wind as she dashed across the snow.Her frosty breath hung in the air like a slow-moving cloud. The girls face was full of glee as cheerfully shouted "I finally managed to buy the toy Ikuo wanted!"

As she continues to dash into the night each step forward was filled with bliss and anticipation, and without realising it the girl was nearing an intersection. Suddenly as if hitting the brakes she grounds to a halt, and merely inches away from where she stood was a man towering over her, he seemed young a high school boy no maybe a third year middle schooler? But his eyes seemed lifeless, he gave off an aura of dejection, like someone who failed in life would. His eyes shifted their gaze, which quickly rooted me in place. As if responding to my sudden reaction, he quietly sighed, with the surroundings air as cold as it is or to be more precise it was freezing it caused our breath to fog up. A bleak smile slowly crept up his face as if he was saying "I'm fine".

Without realising it I found myself staring right into his eyes, and after a brief period of silence between us I hurriedly apologised after realising my mistake after seeing his confused expression plastered on the mans face "Sorry! I was in a hurry. I'm so sorry!"

"Oh don't worry about it I myself was also spacing out I had a lot on my mind lately. But anyways, Did I hit you? Are you hurt?"

Despite his appearance he was surprisingly concerned, I was a little bit curious about what got him so down but I had to get back home quickly and it ended up in the back of my mind. Thinking of my little brothers expression when he sees t he present I got him caused a smile to slowly creep onto my face,  "No, I'm fine. My little brother's Christmas present is also safe! Okay, excuse me!". After giving him a short yet cheerful reply, I quickly left.

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Guys POV:
Maybe my mind wasn't at its right place at the time due to grief but I kept spacing out, thinking how happy I would've been right now if it had all gone according to plan, maybe I would be sitting in a warm seat eating a hot steaming Christmas eve dinner with the woman I loved sitting across me. But i was snapped out of a dream that was simply a dream now, after nearly crashing into a youth, I shifted my gaze to the girl in front of me she seemed as if she to be my age maybe a 2nd year or a 1st year middle schooler but i wondered what she's doing outside this late at night. I saw eyes that were sparkling with joy, her short yet silky hair was fluttering in the cold wind, as moonlight shone of it, and a smile that was enough to enchant most men. Simply looking at her somehow managed to make my day just a little bit better.

After confirming that she was fine, she explained how she managed to get the toy her brother always wanted, her sweet smile was enough to explain how excited and happy she was. It clicked to me that she must have went and bought a Christmas present for her brother to be out this late, it must have been nice to make someone else happy. It made me wonder what my sister is doing at home right now.

After she left i could still hear her giggles reverberating against the narrow walls as she slips away into the night. That girl would probably have a nice Christmas Eve with her family. When I thought about that although it was just a bit, maybe I also wanted to share in some of that happiness.