Alone at Winter

Epilogue

A few months had passed since Alex had finally arrived back into civilization and he had been mostly kept to himself. The surgery done to him left him without an arm and so many stitches that he was too afraid to put down his hood. He wandered in a graveyard until he came across a headstone with the name 'Anne Richards' written on it. He stood in front of the grave with some flowers in his hand. Tears rolled down his face as he placed the flowers on the grave. Before noticing that they were next to him again. Death.

"It wasn't worth it after all, huh?" They said as they stood next to Alex. Both of the two glaring at the tombstone. Alex didn't replay to the figure as they leaned closer to him.

"You did everything for them and for what?" The figure said as he knelt down in front of the tombstone. Alex not shifting his gaze away from the words carved in the stone. The figure ran it's fingers along the carvings.

"All the things you did. All of the things you've lost along the way." The figure continued as it stood up straight.

"Was it worth it?" They asked as the figure looked toward Alex. His face didn't create any other emotion  apart from grief.

"That's a really stupid question. It wasn't fucking worth it. I lost a friend in that blizzard. I lost who I was. And to come back and to see everything I've worked for crumble." Alex hesitated as his face finally creating a different emotion; sadness.

"I-it wasn't worth it. Not one single bit." Alex wiped away his tears as he snagged one of the loose stitches, making him flinch in pain.

"You're not too far away now, Alex. With every passing day you grow closer to seeing your daughter again." The figure stated as they looked onward at Alex, who held his head in his hands.

"After all you've been through. To have the people you fought for be gone. Your daughter deceased. Your husband in the arms of another." The figure said in a quieter tone as he continued looking at the defeated Alex. Alex's head then shot up in anger.

"I know what fucking happened, I was here to fucking witness it!" He shouted before placing his head in his hands again, the tears falling through the cracks of hands. The figure then laid a reassuring hand on Alex's shoulder as he wept.

"Your life has been a long series of events leading to an unhappy ending in an unfair world, Alex." The figure said as they lifted Alex's chin, looking him in what was his tear filled eyes.

"All you can do is accept it." The figure stating before sitting on the tombstone next to Anne's. They looked at Alex before removing their hood to reveal a horribly disfigured face. Alex was shocked at the sight of the figure.

"We all must accept our fate at some point." The figure said before standing up, Alex's eyes were trained on the face of the figure before he muttered the words.

"W-what are you? Really?" Alex stuttered as he looked onward at the disfigured face, so horribly scarred to the point where he couldn't even identify the figure's gender.

"I'm your death, Alex. I'm you. Or what you think you'll look like after death. You snapped back in the blizzard and you never recovered from it." The figure said as they glared at Alex, his hands trembling.

"I don't understand." Alex uttered as he looked onward at the figure as they pulled the hood over their hairless head.

"You can never understand your own brain, Alex." The figure said as they stood back next to Alex, they both then looked over at eachother. Alex face contorted to one of a fake smile, he felt the need to smile. The figure was quick to put their hand on Alex's shoulder.

"You're smiling because you're scared, aren't you? You're scared that you'll mess up whatever might be left of your life. So you smile in the hope that you'll be happy until then." The figure stated as they stood up straight and faded away from Alex.

"I don't really know why I'm smiling. But I'm guess I'm scared of the future." Alex admitted as he looked toward the floor.

"Everyone is scared of the future, Alex. All you have to do is prepare for it and hope for the best." The figure stated as he added a flower to Anne's grave. Alex smiled through the sad expression on his face as he thanked the figure quietly. The figure simply nodded as he looked at the purple flower he had placed. Alex looked at the figure as they stood.

"What's going to happen to you?" Alex asked as he looked at the figure, they simply stretched their body before looking back at Alex.

"It's pretty simple. You leave me behind or you keep on living life with me in it. Its all up to you or what happens to me." The figure said without any hesitation. As if they didn't care of their fate and that they always knew that one option was destined to happen one day. Alex looked at the figure yet again.

"I guess this might be goodbye." Alex said as he continued to look at the lanky figure.

"It's been fun, Alex. Good luck out there." The figure simply walked into the foggy distance after saying their last words to Alex. He then knelt down beside the grave and ran his hand against the words written on the tombstone itself. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a pink teddy bear with a white bow tie and a label that reads 'Theo'. He slowly placed the bear with the flowers on the grave, the purple flower no longer being there at all. He stood after placing the bear and he walked out of the graveyard. Completely alone.