NCW - Cold Winter Days (standard:drama, 978 words)
Author: oprel	Added: Nov 26 2005	Views/Reads: 3276/2215	Story vote: 0.00 (0 votes)
Louise thinks back to her childhood while going home for christmas.

Click here to read the first 75 lines of the story

train begins to roll, and after a short while the city lights are gone. 
She falls asleep with a small smile. 

In some angles, the strong wind makes whistle-sounds around the train
cabins. Louise is still sleeping. 

* 

Louise is still five when her parents get divorced a few weeks later
that same winter. She runs away from home, but not too far. 

It's starting get darker outside. One slow step at a time, Louise walks
through the deep snow. She stops to look up at the house. It doesn't 
look like they're at home, all lights are out and the car is gone. 

She feels it's almost hard to breathe. It's much colder than she had
first felt, and she's walking too fast. She rings the doorbell. It's 
completely quiet. After waiting, she rings the bell again. 

Louise cries as she slowly walks back home. There is so much snow, and
she's tired. 

The next day she walks over to Shelly again. There is a chance for more
snow. The sky is grey-white. They go outside but they're not playing so 
much today. 

“Are you moving now?” Shelly asked. They're slowly walking side by side
through the deep snow, not knowing what to do. 

“I don't know,” Louise says barely audible. “It's stupid.” 

“Who's stupid?” 

“Everything is stupid. I hate everything.” Louise blinks her wet eyes a
few times. 

“Not true. You like me,” Shelly says with a little smile. 

Louise slouches down in the snow. Shelly sits down too. 

“Mom says I will live with her.” Louise says. “In the same house. So
maybe I won't move. I don't want to move. She doesn't like me and she 
never care but I don't want to move.” 

“You have to stay! Cause if you move, we can't play again ever if you
move really, really far away. My dad says you and me will go to school 
together.” 

“I want that too. Cause I don't know anyone else really. I would be
alone and you too.” 

* 

Louise is waiting outside the station, lost in thoughts and a little
nervous without knowing exactly why. A few blocks away she sees a large 
truck with a snowplough fighting the snow off the streets. The snowfall 
is as eager to replace it. 

It's cold, but not unbearable. Still, she shudders a little until her
body gets accustomed to the temperature. The stars and the moon are 
completely obscured by the thick cloud cover. The taxi finally arrives. 
She gets in and holds her hands over her face, trying to warm up. Only 
a few minutes left now. 

* 

Louise exits the taxi and she stands there for a few seconds, looking at
that house. She checks her watch; it's only 6:30 am. It's early, but 
she knows it doesn't matter, not to Shelly or her parents. Louise rings 
the doorbell, and soon Shelly opens the door. 

“Hey, you made it,” she smiles and hugs her friend. 

“I don't wanna be anywhere else,” says Louise. “It's good to be here.”
She wrinkles her nose. 

Shelly laughs. “Come in, it's so cold.” They go inside. 

It's much warmer there. 


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