Snow

She looked outside where the snow was dancing in the air. It was already dark but the streetlights, seeming like over-sized fireflies through the window glass, created a shimmering, welcoming atmosphere. She needed no clock to understand that she had to go. She had to leave him behind in the warm, cosy living room. The dimmed light of the candles on his table faded from her view and focused on the white veil of snow that began to surround her like a coat.

Snowflakes tangled in her hair and kissed her cheeks with the cold lips of silence. A tranquil breeze that could never pass for a freezing winter wind made her move forward into her destiny. The picture of the over-sized fireflies was gone from her mind, forming into a streetlamp. Two by two, her steps painted shoe prints towards the light. The streetlamp flickered as if it tried to call her. But there was no need to call her.

She looked up at the dark sky with its thousand bright shining stars. She looked at the streets with all the enlightened windows and smiling, living people behind the glass. She could imagine their laughter and their happiness and she was grateful for her lifetime must look just as wonderful as the ones she looked at now. Time… time was running out and she noticed the small unsteady whispers. Her breath. She remembered the warm streetlight. One step closer. Breathe, be calm as the snowflakes, she reminded herself. A roll of thunder broke the soothing silence. Her heartbeat. Beat steady as a drum in a song, she reminded her heart.

But what if the song ends? One step closer. When does it end? Now? What happens next?

The streetlight in the snow was close now.

She forgot why she wanted to walk towards the streetlight, but a sudden fear came up her throat. She wished to be back in his room, back in his arms. She glanced backwards over her shoulder and in his arms she was. She smiled confidently. The streetlight above her flickered again, then the light faded away.

Motionless, she understood that the song was about to end and the whispers ceased. For the blink of an eye, the world was muted.

No matter how tight he held her in his arms, he could not stop their bodies from limping. A painful sob bursted into his throat and he closed his eyes in tears. With shivering lips, he kissed her, but when he looked into her emotionless eyes, he knew that her soul was long gone.