Collection of Short Stories

13. Goodbye.

My teeth clutter as the strong wind almost topples me off the path. But my determination wins, as I pull my coat tighter, ignore the water soaking my feet inside my boots, and climb. I see the peak now, and nothing can deter me anymore.

I feel another gush of wind. But this time, a gentle one. Not the kind that blows me away, but the kind that makes my heart flutter. The kind that makes me smile. The kind that tells me you are here. I smell you.

You catch up from behind, and hold my pale cold hands, in yours. We exchange no heat, because now nothing else matters. You are here and I am here. And we are together. Isn't this what we had promised? To spend the eternity together?

I spent years looking for you. I spent years convincing people that I did not want to move on. I spent agonising moments staring outside the window, knowing that one day you will hold my hand.

And today, you did.

I bid our kids goodbye. They were asleep, and I didn't want to wake them up because they were blissfully unaware. They would call me mad, again. I don't blame them. They did not know of our promise. Our promise of spending the eternity together.

We lost you five years ago, and they lost me today. But we found each other. We found each other in these mountains. In the snow. In the clouds. In the white. In the rustic tone of the world. We found ourselves in the snow. In the eternity.

As we link our fingers and climb higher up, ignoring the melting snow in our boots, I smile thinking that I wasn't mad. I told them I would find you, and I did. I found you were you were always meant to be. With me.