NCW - Cold Winter Days (standard:drama, 978 words)
Author: oprel	Added: Nov 26 2005	Views/Reads: 3276/2216	Story vote: 0.00 (0 votes)
Louise thinks back to her childhood while going home for christmas.

Louise is sitting on her bed in the quiet dorm room, looking out the
window. The snowflakes are large and many, falling slowly but 
inevitably to the ground, where they form a growing layer of crunchy 
fluff. 

* 

Winter had always been one of Louise's favourite seasons; it shares the
top spot with summer. 

They are five years old. Louise and Shelly are playing in the snow,
throwing snowballs at each other, throwing themselves in the snow to 
make snow angels, and building snowmen. 

As it gets darker, Louise is no longer as happy. She knows that the day
is soon over and she has to go home in time for dinner. 

When Shelly's dad comes home, he helps the girls with the third and
final snowball that makes up the head of the snowman. After some joking 
banter he tells Shelly that dinner should be due in about an hour, then 
he goes inside. 

There's one hour left. How can time fly so fast? Louise can't
understand. 

“What are you thh-th-thinkin?” Shelly asks Louise, who is brought back
to reality again. 

“Uhm, nothing. Why?” Louise replies. She wrinkles her nose as she feels
a tickle there. 

“Just wondering,” Shelly shrugs. “I th...thought maybe it was
something.” 

Louise doesn't reply. She looks down at the ground. Shelly feels
uncomfortable without knowing why. After a few minutes of silence, 
Louise's mom comes by to pick her up. 

“That's mommy, I gotta go.” 

Shelly hugs her friend. “Come back tomorrow.” 

Louise smiles briefly. “I don't wanna be anywhere else.” Then she turns
around and walks towards the car, even though she doesn't want to. She 
notices how cold it really is. 

* 

Out in the hallway there is some commotion. Louise is brought back from
memory land. Many of the students are going home or somewhere else 
during the holidays. 

She gets out of bed and checks her bags to make sure everything is
there. Standing by the window, she calls Shelly on her cellphone. She 
waits for Shelly to pick up. It's cold outside the window, and so is 
the air close to it on the inside. Shelly doesn't answer the phone – 
she must be busy with something. 

* 

In the tiny fridge in her room, Louise finds a nearly finished bottle of
wine. It's her roommate's, but Louise fills up a glass and finishes it 
as she does the last of the packing. 

When she goes outside, the snowfall is so dense that she can't see very
far at all. The taxi arrives soon. 

“Central Station, please.” 

As the taxi ploughs through the snow silently, Louise calls Shelly
again. 

* 

Finally onboard the train, Louise sits down in the comfortable seat. The


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