In celebration of Christmas, I invited readers to write a story
about the painting below. Enjoy the short stories submitted and have a
Merry Christmas!
by
Deborha Mitchell
“I shall never go back! I don’t belong there….not that I could….I am lost.”
Standing near a frozen pond, she hears a sound at her feet.
“Hello
little friend, are you lost too? Here let me warm you up.” Cassie
reached over and gently picked up the little orphan kitten. “How did you
come to be here, in the middle of nowhere?” The kitten nuzzled inside
Cassie’s cloak. “My name is Cassie…let me see…I shall call you
Snowflake, for I am sure you are a one of a kind, just like me….hmmm,
my Grammy used to say that to me.”
Just
as Cassie began to rise, she heard a noise behind her. Looking over her
shoulder, she saw her Grammy heading towards her. With a surprise in
her voice, Cassie looked at the tiny bundle in her arms and said, “How
did she find me? I have been wandering for hours without a soul in
sight, yet that appears to be my Grammy coming over that bridge. Could I
be dreaming? Is the cold getting to me and making me see things?”
“Cassie!” Grammy shouted. “Cassie, there you are! How did you come to be here, in the middle of nowhere?”
“Hmm….curious thing, little Snowflake, but didn’t I just ask that of you?”
Looking
at her Grammy, who was now just a few feet away, Cassie held up her
hand. “Please, step no closer, Grammy, for I fear you may be only a
dream.”
Grammy stopped
and simply stared into Cassie’s eyes….after a moment of silence, she
said, “Time to go home, Cassie. Your family is worried about you.”
Cassie
looked down at the small kitten in her arms….but where was Snowflake?
“Snowflake? Where did he go? He was here in my arms just a moment ago
and now he is gone?” Looking up at her Grammy she said, “Grammy, where
did Snowflake go?”
Her
Grammy, with love in her eyes, said, “Snowflakes are only here for a
short while, Cassie, they bring us joy and then they move on for a
season.”
“I don’t understand, Grammy, he was just a kitten, not a real snowflake.”
“Was he? Are you certain? Look at the snow before you….do you see any tracks made by anything?”
Cassie looked down, only to see clean, untouched snow where she had first seen the kitten.
“I do not understand, Grammy.”
Cassie’s Grammy reached out and touched her granddaughter’s hand. “Can you feel that, Cassie?”
Cassie looked at her hand. “Yes, I can.”
“And yet you know that I am not really here, either.”
Without looking up, Cassie smiled and nodded.
“Snowflakes
bring joy when we need it,” Grammy continued, “then they are gone for a
season. Return home and bring joy to your family, little snowflake, and
know that I will always be here when you need me.”
Cassie felt her Grammy’s hand slip away….looking up she watched as her Grammy walked away.
In the distance, Cassie could see the smoke from her home’s chimney. She smiled at the welcomed sight.
“Time to go home, little snowflake,” she said quietly as she began her journey home.
2 comments:
I would have liked to know more about Cassie, and why she had left home in the first place, but this was a lovely story nonetheless. I can imagine Cassie going home, and the next morning she hears a scratching at the door. When she opens it, there's Snowflake.
I loved the surreal quality to this story. The scene with Cassie and her grandmother was so touching. Such a beautiful tale of a young girl's grief and how those we love are never far from us. Really touched my heart. Thank you.
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