School Stuff

Sin+Syntax CW

sin and syntax creative writing IFS revision

It was a cool evening with churning grey clouds bumbling through the sky, whispering chilly breezes laced with snowflakes and melancholy. My feet scuffed along the pavement, dragging, kicking at pebbles, my eyes fixated on a long, thin crack in the asphalt.

The wind blew my hair into my eyes, tore at my coat, turned my skeletal cheeks to sad, wilted roses. I toyed mindlessly with my sleeves, shaking fingers clutching onto something, anything. The street I walked down was somewhat empty, and the way the wind blew through the buildings made me feel as if I was nothing but hollow bones.

"You ready?" She turned to face me, crimson hair fanning over her ghostly complexion like snow drenched in blood.

I looked up at the sky and watched my breath ascend into the lifeless air above us. As the sun melted into the horizon, the sky darkened, exuding a despondent blue glow. "How could I be?"

She sighed as we continued to trudge along in silence. I found my eyes gravitating to her periodically, studying her features with a tenacious admiration. Her eyes were a magnificent sage green, faded with the anguish of everyone she'd lost in the wreckage, and yet she seemed to radiate warmth, everything about her presence inviting, intoxicating, invigorating. "I'll miss you," she said.

I clamped my eyes shut and looked away in a feeble attempt to bite back the tears brimming in my eyes. Whether it was from the briskness of the air or the somber words she'd spoken, I didn't know. I swallowed, my throat agonisingly dry, and continued to trek onwards.

I didn't even realise she'd stopped walking until she clutched my wrist in her skeletal fingers and pulled me into her embrace. I fell into her arms, grasping at the back of her coat in search of something to latch onto. She smelled of petrichor and warmth despite the frigidity of the air that surrounded us, and I couldn't bring myself to let go.

"Goodbye." she held me for a second longer before pulling her arms away. Don't go, I wanted to say. Don't leave me.

Instead, I stood firmly with my jaw clamped shut and wiped the tears from my cheeks. I looked at her with a fierce determination in my eye and gave a steady nod. You can go now. And so she did. And I was alone.