She stares out the window at the freshly fallen snow. Her old eyes relaxed at the sight of winter's familiar coat. She no longer recognizes anything around her. She's forgotten nearly everything she once knew. Her mind is a blank slate, the unique, irradiant details faded away. Her remaining memories fill her mind to the extent they can, but that’s still not enough.
Memories of the one she loved.
The one she still loves.
Sixty-three years ago their fates collided. She was drawing in the park on a cold winter day. Her hands were stained with the residue of graphite and charcoal. The frigid wind redundantly blew her hair in her eyes.
Her attention had suddenly shifted to the sweet, melodic sound of a chorus echoing from across the park. She wandered over towards the origin of the sound. The popular Christmas songs they sang drew in a crowd. Their singing was like a siren’s song, drawing in everyone who can hear it.
She stood ten feet away from the large crowd surrounding the raised platform. She never noticed the young boy racing in her direction.
He slammed into her. They both fell to the ground with a thud. They landed not too far away from each other. She stares at him, flabbergasted. She repeatedly blinked. Her bag had spilled across the concrete around them. Pencils and loose papers coated the sidewalk. He frantically attempted to collect her stuff, yet he clumsily dropped every single thing he got a hold of. Sheepishly, he looked up at her. Their eyes finally met. He stumbled over his words, attempting to find the right way to apologize for his reckless actions.
“I’m so- I- I’m so, so-” He groans in frustration, clutching onto the bangs of his hair.
She let out a light laugh, slowly collecting her supplies.
Voices shouted from the distance. They screamed a name that she could only assume belonged to the boy. The boy's face became frightened, but a sense of humor was in his eyes as well.
"Sorry!" He exclaimed as he bolted away. She watched him leave and glanced at the three boys chasing him. She recognized the boy in the back of the pack, all she could do was wonder if the other three boys went to school with her as well.
The song in the background ended, the crowd began to disperse. Snapping out of her daze, she frantically collected her things. She received some dirty looks from passersby, others kicking or walking on her belongings. She managed to collect a majority of her things without too much of a hassle.
She sighed with relief as she stood. She stared at the sky and let the breeze cool down her already-wind-chapped face. Cold specks began to sprinkle across her face. Focusing her sights, she noticed snow gracefully falling from the clouds. The first snow of the year.
A few days later, Christmas break had ended. They were back at school and she was absolutely drained. She was exhausted.
The elderly woman chuckled at her fond memory, wishing things were as simple as they were that day. Her eyes met the winter landscape once more, letting another memory bleed into her mind.
The day went by fast, but it still felt like she had been there forever. She strolled through the halls as she headed towards the main exit. She was ready to go home.
While walking with the crowd, two boys were recklessly wrestling around. Not aware of their surroundings, they slammed into her side. The sudden impact caused her to run into someone else like dominoes. The person she ran into stumbled out of the large crowd and into the snow. She attempted to stop the stranger from falling by grabbing their hand, but this ended with them both being pulled to the ground. They both landed in the freezing, soft snow. The snow was piled high and their clothes slowly soaked up the numbing moisture.
"It's you again!" The boy said with a ridiculous amount of cheer in his voice. He looked down upon her from where he sat beside her as she laid with her head against the ground.
Startled by the suddenly familiar voice, her head shot up. "Hey,” she exclaimed in recognition, “You're the guy from the park!"
They looked at each other laughing softly. A comfortable silence settled amongst the two as their laughter died out. The boy stuck his hand out, offering a handshake.
"I'm Flynn," the boy said with a warm smile.
"Cassidy," she stated kindly.
Neither of them knew how they had grown so close over time. But after that instance, they saw each other more and more.
With all these memories flooding through her brain, she had a light smile on her face as she stared out the window. Every time she thought of him, she couldn't help but smile. Though she might've forgotten most of her life, she was glad the memories of him still remained.
One of her favorite memories is when they went on their first date. They went ice skating. After five years, he finally invited her out. It was Christmas time once again by the time he finally asked her out. Snow coated the dried-up grass once again.
There was an ice skating rink in the same park they first met at, the same choir singing in the background. They gracefully skated across the ice, laughing at each other’s humorous antics.
The choir began singing a familiar song.
"Hey, it's our song!" He exclaimed with a smile brighter than the light reflecting off the beautiful snow.
"We have a song?" She inquires. The look on her face revealed how happy she truly was even if she was confused by his words.
"It's the song they were singing when we first met!" He exclaims bursting with happiness.
She couldn't believe he still remembered after all this time. Even she never realized that. She listened to the sweet voices of the choir as they sang Carol of the Bells, allowing the angelic voices to flood her ears and spill into her brain with glee. All she knew at that moment was that she loved the boy standing beside her.
Her memories are powerful. The only thing that remains of who she once was. The strongest memory echoes through her head with no mercy.
They had long since started dating and winter was coming to an end once again. The snow on the streets was slowly disappearing.
She wasn't paying attention, she hadn't noticed the car rapidly approaching her. But he did. He pushed her out of the way, throwing her out of the car’s directed path. She hit the curb of the sidewalk on the other side. The thud that echoed through the loud intersection wasn't caused by her though. Slowly snapping out of her daze, her eyes fell on the bloody body of the one she loved. She crawled over to him, grabbing his hand in hers. A kind stranger called for an ambulance.
Tears rapidly ran down her face. He used what little strength he had to wipe away some of her tears. "Don’t- don't cry, Cass...." His words barely escaped his mouth. His breaths became short. “Don’t cry.”
She sat there with him until his breath disappeared, slowly coming to terms with the fact that she would never hear his heartbeat again.
You would think this memory would make her sad. But when she thinks about it, she's completely peaceful. She did precisely as he told her to. She refused to cry any longer.
She slowly opens her apartment’s bedroom window to hear the faint voices of the choir echoing through the park below. She leans back in her chair, closing her eyes, and smiled peacefully. Even if everything else faded away, the memories of him will always stay.