Reasons to Live - a collection of flash fiction stories

Reasons To Live

I watch the window glazing over, freckled with snowflakes. In the sky, the sun boasts its beauty though it resides in the depth of December. I think of twilights and angels in the snow, of noisy yesteryears where our lives were as pristine as the ground today. 

My wall speaks of years of happiness, some fragment of sadness too, of people who have gone away and those who have stayed. It speaks of trips around the world and imaginary worlds my sisters and I had created in our own back yard. We had been warriors, princesses, snow-children.

There is a white gown waiting for me, it whispers on the hanger that the present and the past often collide if you let them, that once again there will come a time of magnificent Decembers and that warm feeling only a lifetime of memories can bring.

I touch the bracelet on my wrist and whisper a silent, 'I still miss you.' as the sun bursts brightly in the winter's sky.

In the next room the chatting of family and friends warms up the house like a yule time log, and the sun slowly slips into the core of me and melts whatever ice may have been left behind.

A million flower petals fall upon the floor, leading me towards the alter, white and pink and sweet. A thousand snowflakes fall outside the world tonight. I close my eyes, feel a gentle voice embracing me, whispering, 'There is always a reason to live'.

© Christine Bottas. All rights reserved 2015-2017. 

Edit: Feb/16: This particular short story will be featured (after some big time editing) in an anthology which will be printed and hosted by Kingston University in London. I'm able to keep the original verson here.