six: goodbye
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀My eyes open and are greeted by the the sun shining in through the window. I look around at my surroundings almost forgetting where I was.
Sliding out of the bed, I waltz over to the window to find the snow had decreased in speed by a lot. A smile tugs at my lips at the thought of seeing my family. In high spirits, I take a shower before before gathering my bag and coat.
I skip down the stairs to find the whole White family in the living room. Mr. White is recumbent on the recliner while Mrs. White, Harper, and a boy, who I'm assuming is Harper's older brother, are sitting on the couch watching the news.
"Good morning," I say in a chipper mood while taking a seat on the arm of the couch next to Harper.
"Well, isn't someone just chipper today," Mrs. White smiles at me.
"Yep," I reply popping the 'p'. I place my bag and coat on the floor next to the couch.
"I'm glad. I bet you've been missing your family," Mr. White pipes in.
"Yes, sir. I didn't realize how much I would actually miss them." I look down at Harper who has a small smile on his lips. His eyes almost look sad.
"So, is anyone going to introduce me to this beautiful girl?" The boy sitting next to Harper asks breaking the comfortable silence. My cheeks heat up due to the 'beautiful' comment.
"I'm Blakley," I speak up surprised I'm not too embarrassed to talk. "I ended up stuck at the lodge due to the storm and Harper invited me to stay here."
"I see," the boy lightly bumps Harper's shoulder with his own. "I'm Jake, by the way."
"It's nice to meet you," I say politely.
"Oh, Blakley, there's some cereal out on the counter for breakfast." Mrs. White nods her head towards the kitchen.
"Thank you," I reply getting up and heading toward the kitchen. I pour myself some Frosted Flakes and take a seat at the breakfast table.
Harper joins me while I eat my breakfast. "So, this morning is our last time together, huh?" He asks.
"I guess," I stop eating my cereal. "You know, I'm really going to miss hanging out with you. The past two days were a lot fun," I smile sadly.
"Yeah, I agree." He sends me a sad smile as well. "But, hey, there's this invention called a phone and you can text and call on it." He jokes.
"No, kidding?" I play along.
"Yeah, and they give you a number that you share with your friends and they can text you. Cool, huh?" He continues jokingly.
"Yeah, maybe I should give you my number so we can stay in touch or something," I wink causing him to laugh. "But for real, I want to keep in touch." I take a bite of my cereal.
"I'd like that," he smiles at me.
Speaking of said invention, my almost dead phone vibrates in my pocket. I pull it out answering the call from my mother.
"Hello?"
"Hey, we're here!" My mother announces over the phone. I pull my phone away to look at the time which reads 8:45 in the morning.
"I thought you weren't coming till noon," I question.
"We were, but we couldn't wait. So, where do we go?"
"I'll come get you." I reply.
"Okay, sweetie, see you soon," my mother hangs up.
I slide my phone over to Harper. "My parents came early. Put your number in," I stand up from my seat and head towards the door. Before leaving, I inform the White's that my parents were here.
As I enter into the lodge, the sound of my mother's voice calls me.
"Blakley!"
"Mom! Dad!" I run towards my parents with my arms open. I envelop them both in a hug. If you were a bystander, you'd think that it'd been months since we've seen each other.
"Oh, darling, we've missed you," my mom brushes her hand through my wet hair.
"I've missed you, too." I hug them shortly once more. "Come on, the White's want to meet you," I grab my mom's hand and drag her towards the house.
I walk into the house with my parents behind me. All the White's are in the living room when I return.
"Mom, Dad, this is Mrs. and Mr. White, my lovely hosts." The parents shake hands.
"Thank you, guys, for taking care of my baby girl," my pulls me to her side.
"Oh, it was our pleasure. Your daughter is too sweet," Mrs. White compliments.
I pull away from my mom and walk over to Harper. He hands me my phone with a sad expression on his face.
"Will I get to see you before you leave the resort?" He questions.
"Of course," I reply. I pull him into a hug thanking him for his kindness.
"Ready, Blakley," my father asks catching my attention.
"Almost," I hug Harper once more before pulling my coat on and slinging my bag over my shoulder. I quickly hug Mrs. White before I join my parents by the door.
I wave one last time before exiting the house. We make the fifteen minute walk back to our cabin where I'm greeted by my brothers.
"Blake," Sam pulls me into a hug. Xavier mirrors Sam's actions after he had released me.
"Chill, guys," I tease. "I was only gone for two days."
"Yeah, but I know you missed me," Sam teases. I chuckle shoving him aside.
"I'm going to change," I inform my family who had been gathered around me. I know I was gone for two days, but they're acting like I was gone for a lifetime.
Once I reach the snowflake room, I sift through my duffle and pull out a tee shirt and fresh jeans. I had been wearing the same pair of jeans for the past two days. Gross. There's flour stained on them as well as icing and who knows what else.
I join my family after I change and we go on with our day. We end up outside playing in the snow. While we're building snowmen, I form a perfect little snowball and chuck it at Sam.
The surprised look on his face causes me to double over in laughter giving me away.
"You're on, Blake," he yells bending over to form his own snowball. Quickly while laughing, I duck behind my mom just as Sam throws the snowball.
"Hey," mom yells once she's covered in the once snowball.
Thus started the snowball fight. We ran around throwing snowballs at each other for a good thirty minutes before retreating into the warm cabin for some hot chocolate.
After the long day of spending my time with my family, we finally fulfill our tradition of watching Elf in our pajamas while eating pizza. As the credits roll, I look over to find my family sleeping peacefully. I guess the snowball fight took it out of them.
Grabbing any blankets I can find, I cover them each making sure they stay toasty through the cold night. I, however, retreat to my room for the night. Once in my bed, I fall asleep as soon as my head hits the pillow.
For the next three days, my family and I stay in the cabin celebrating Christmas and spending time with each other. Our cabin was filled with laughter for the whole three days. On our last night in the cabin, we sat by the fire reminiscing on Christmas's past. It was quite relaxing, actually.
"Blakley, hand me your bag, please," my dad calls from behind the car.
The day of our departure had arrived. Sadness filled my heart as I packed my duffle. It felt like just yesterday I was placing the duffle in my room from our arrival.
"Here you go, dad," I hand my bag over to him and he places the bag in the trunk playing a live version of Tetris.
I enter the cabin once more to find Sam saying his goodbye's for the holidays.
"Bye, mom," he hugs my mother who has tears in her eyes.
"Bye, sweet angel," she squeezes Sam before releasing him.
My heart melts when it's Xavier's turn to say goodbye. His face is stained with tears as he wraps his little arms around Sam's torso.
"Bye, Sammy," he mumbles into Sam's jacket.
"Bye, bud." Xavier releases Sam.
"Let's get in the car, Xavier." Mom lightly guides Xavier to the garage and to the car.
"Come here, sis," Sam opens his arms and engulfs me in a hug. "I'm going to miss you."
"And I'm going to miss you," I pull back from the hug.
"I know you will," he winks breaking the sweet moment we were experiencing.
"Whatever," I playfully roll my eyes. "Drive safely, okay?"
"I will," he waves before exiting to his car.
I sigh at the sudden silence of the cabin. Looking around, I take in the decorations before saying, "See you next year."
Honk.
The sounding of our car horn tells me it's time to go. I climb in the back seat where Xavier is playing on his new iPad. Dad drives towards the lodge to check out. When he pulls into a parking spot, I climb out of the car with him.
"What are you doing," he asks as we enter the lodge.
"I have something to take care of," I reply heading towards the attic library.
I had texted Harper earlier to meet me there. I climb each creaking step with sadness overcoming me. I never thought that I would be trapped in the lodge for two days and make a friend for a lifetime.
"Hey," I call into the quietness of the attic where Harper sits on the window sill.
"Hey," he walks over to me. "So, you're leaving?"
I nod holding back my tears. "Yeah," my voice hoarse.
He pulls me into a hug. "So, this is goodbye?"
I shake my head while releasing him from the hug. "No," I smile at the boy. "This is see you later."
I hate goodbyes.
"Okay," he nods with sadness evident in his face. "See you later then," he replies hugging me once more before I descend the stairs and make my way towards the lobby. "Wait!" He calls causing me to stop at the door leading to the lobby. "Stay frosty," he teases at my use of word this week.
"You, too, Harper." I call over my shoulder before leaving the lodge and climbing into my car.
I stare out the window watching the resort grow smaller and smaller and eventually disappearing altogether.
Until next year, Winter Park,
Stay Frosty.
author's note
It's over. :'( haha not really. There will be an epilogue posted tomorrow.
But, man, this is the first book I've ever finished writing. Even though it's a short story, it's still a huge accomplishment.
I love Harper and Blakley. I don't want to see them go. :'( maybe they'll make an appearance in the future. Who knows?
Pictured: Blakley walking back to the cabin.
Christmas Countdown: 2 days.
Thoughts?
.j