Midwinter Blogfest

Marieke is hosting a Midwinter Blogfest!

The question: What does your main character do in Midwinter?

Lissa wrapped the scarf around her neck and pulled her coat on over her pyjamas. Everyone else had gone to bed. The merriment was over, the kitchen cleaned up, the wads of torn wrapping paper gathered into a black bag and left by the back door.

Another Christmas over.

She stood on tiptoe and fumbled in the cupboard above the fridge, her fingers searching until they wrapped around the waxy, ridged egde of a candle. She knocked a box of matches down too and dropped it into her pocket.

Outside the icy air bit into her cheeks and she lifted her shoulders against the cold, burying her chin in the prickly warmth of the scarf. She crunched her way across the snow to the end of the garden and stopped by the low wall. She could see the river on the other side, black water rushing and tripping over itself.

This was where she'd last seen him, four years ago. She'd leaned over the wall, cheeks flushed from the exertion of dodging and throwing snowballs, and shouted at him that she didn't need the stupid hat he'd knocked off her head. They could look for it in the morning.

She'd still been shouting when he slipped into the water.

Lissa gathered a mound of snow on top of the wall, compacted it with her shivering fingers, and pushed the candle in. It took her several tries to light the match, but on the fourth time she got it. The candle flared to life and she dropped the blackened match onto the snow.

I miss you, Damon. I wish you were still here.

The flame wavered back and forth and she watched it, contemplating the past, thinking of all the things that could have been. It was a dangerous path to go down, but she allowed it, just once a year. She couldn't let Christmas pass without remembering him.

The night grew colder. She turned back to the house, leaving the candle burning.

Go check out the other entries at the bottom of this post!