Jack watches the children frolic &. play, bursting through hills of snow, piled high on roadsides &. driveways, soft mountains of white crumbling under small bodies bouncing off of figurative walls. Of course, they had every reason to be EXCITED. Why ? Well, it was a snow day, of course ! ! ! Was there anything a child could want more than 20 inches of snow on a cold winter’s morning ? On a Monday, too !
A small smile flickers across tired features, &. he lets out a heavy sigh. Hands reach out idly to grab his - oh. That’s right. Not his anymore, it - no, that’s not right - she had taken off . . . how long ago ? It wasn’t LONG, he couldn’t have forgotten already. His memory wasn’t that poor. Then again, the last DECADE had seemed blurred, perhaps the information just BLED INTO the background noise of years drifting past. He would never know.
Digits grasp weakly at empty air &. he purses his lips before withdrawing his hand. 300 years. &. now he was left alone. Guess old habits die hard. Fingers comb through his locks before dropping limply to his side. Something told him that frigid grip around his heart wasn’t NORMAL, it was familiar, but unwanted.
In the distance, the loving voices of two parents ring out across the suburbs, calling their children away from the cold. The spirit watches them go longingly. How DESPERATELY did he want a family like that ? But he turns away. Only desperate fools daydreamed about the things they couldn’t HAVE, only they gave themselves false hope.
‘ Maybe if I get to Canada before nightfall, I can avoid the Wendigos this ti - ‘ &. suddenly his train of thought is derailed &. he can feel some strain of PANIC building / throbbing / screaming in his chest. What kind of cruel mistress was FATE that he run into her of all people in a small town in Vermont ? Out of everywhere in the world . . . what were the chances ?
“ Holly, ” his voice is but a WHISPER, a few snowflakes drifting on his shaking breath. Should he flee ? He was good at that, wasn’t he ? RUNNING AWAY from his problems. &. yet, he was frozen in place. How ironic.