Cold
There should have been a shade of gray, before the frozen and after the innocent. The gray hadn’t been visible, it never was visible. That was what made it unforgivable—it buried the warmth before it could be missed. Once the gray became invisible, everything else fell into place and disappeared. The only thing visible was the ice.
Sheets of fogged crystal descended down onto the city, pierced by the tips of the skyscrapers, its gray hue darkening with brewing, frozen rain inside. It hasn’t rained in years. Or months. Time was hard to tell since it disappeared along with the gray and innocence. Precision took its place. Icy precision.
Every window was open, letting the cold seep in and breezing over his crisp gray suit with the frigid tie tucked in, not a fabric wavering with the wind. He couldn’t feel the chill of the air, even as it grazed over his graying hair and aging eyes.
The city was sculpted in ice. He wondered what was happening inside, whether they felt the cold.
The cup in his hand swirled with water, chunks of well carved ice swimming in its depth, barely floating but floating nonetheless. They stubbornly refused to melt.
Why are you so cold? The boy whispered, stabbing his frozen heart. He turned around but there was no one there. Just his subconscious.
Why are you so alone? The boy prodded in angst, his voice broken and his existence invisible yet so clearly alive and anguished.
His fingers tapped the glass window as he stared out at the hardening shadows that covered the sky. Why were they so cold?
Frozen
“What have you been doing after high school?”
“You know, went to college, got my degree. Two years ago.”
“Oh, I see.”
“Yeah. You?”
“Went up to Alaska, lived on my own for a while.”
“Sounds fun.”
Pause.
“We always used to talk about getting a place together, didn’t we?”
“Back in freshman year.”
“Still, we started saving up for the trip back then. Where did we want to go again?”
“California. We thought the sun never set there.”
Pause.
“That was a long time ago.”
“Right. Exactly.”
“So where do you work now?”
“My dad’s company. I’m managing a small stock market.”
“I always knew that you would turn out to be successful, working so hard at school all the time.”
“What about you? Any plans?”
“Just going where I want to go for now. Nothing’s written in stone yet.”
Pause.
“Do you remember how we wanted to build our own business?”
“Yeah, junior year. I remember. You were the ambitious one, with all your ideas for the future.”
“You needed someone to lead the way. You were always so grounded to the present.”
“It was to help keep you grounded, to keep you from flying away too far.”
Pause.
“We were a good pair.”
“A match made in heaven.”
Laughter.
Pause.
“…It’s snowing.”
“Yeah, it is.”
Pause
“So any plans for the weekend? We could talk more over a cup of coffee…”
“Ah, can’t. I have a meeting Saturday that could go all day. Sunday, I have to go to my sister’s wedding.”
“Oh…”
“But we could meet up on Monday…”
“I’m going back to Alaska, Sunday night.”
“Oh.”
“Yeah.”
Pause.
“I should head back. It’s getting cold.”
“Yeah, me too.”
“Which way are you going?”
“Towards the library.”
“Oh, nevermind. I gotta go the other way.”
“Okay. Bye.”
“Bye.”
Look at us, our backs turned against each other again. Not even a backwards glance.
What happened? Why are we so cold?
Melted
Splatters of melted silver mottled the windows, drops falling through the cracks and leaving their tracks on the carpet around his feet, decorating his suit and tie.
It was raining.
There had been no gray before. Just innocence, then the cold. It had never started, never began. It had always been there, he supposed. Just invisible, but always there.
Black to white. Never gray.
Why are you so cold? A drop of melted silver trailed down his cheek, painting his face with the thawing numbness of his heart.
He looked back around again, but the boy that had never been there was gone. Nothing was left, not even the echo of his voice.
The clatter of ice had stopped, and when he looked down at his glass he sighed and put the half-filled glass on the table next to him, the chill of the water finally recognizable when the numbness went away and the cold stabbed him at last.
It was raining. The ice was melting.
Why was it so cold.
Image Credits: