Winter's Solace

Part-2

The gusts of snow flurried across the cottage, making few heaps of the accumulated snow fall down from the roof slabs. Bernard watched Melody pull her scarlet sweater closer as her tiny teeth quivered in cold. The other twin was too busy to bother about the cold. She was the definition of "the cold never bothered me anyway". Alicia always told him how the twins resembled Elsa and Anna from the movie Frozen.

Harmony arranged the small balls of snow, slowly forming the first layer.

"Can you see those pretty girls?"

The pair of four-holed buttons stared lifelessly into Bernard's soul.

"They are my grandchildren," he tapped his hand on his chest proudly.

"They created you, and now they are creating a companion for you, so you don't have to withstand this snow alone," he comforted his lonesome friend.

Everyone needs a companion to withstand a harsh weather, he thought.

Melody threw a handful of snow at the open sky to experience a mini snow-shower. She swirled with her arms open as her musical sister kept mounding the snow.

"Think about it," he hinted, "You have a great lifespan."

The snowman would have asked "How dare you?" if it had a mouth.

Bernard giggled at his weird thoughts.

"Your life begins when a kid or two creates you with the purest form of love, and believes you to be the perfect snowman ever. You give immense bliss to your creator, who begin interacting with you as of you were real. Finally, you leave this world once your season is over," he sighed.

"Your life is short yet filled with only happiness," he concluded.

The lighter flakes of snow flipped as the icy air blew past the lonely companions. Some flakes got carried away by the air to newer destinations, to begin a new journey, while the others just flipped their sides, landing in the same place.

"Do you know how my life is?" he questioned his impassive friend.

"The only time I feel my existence is when I see my grandchildren."

A sentence that held varied emotions. A part of it contained happiness the other part contained gloominess. Is this what you call a bitter-sweet sentence?

"Ethan lives in Edinburgh with his family," Bernard revealed as if he was talking about a stranger. He convinced himself that he wasn't a part of their nuclear family. "They visit me once a year, during Christmas."

The cold air slowed down it's intensity to make Bernard's voice clear and audible. Even the air wanted to hear his side of the story, the untold version.

"Christmas. What is Christmas?" he perpended.

"Can you see how the same day can be viewed through different perspectives?"

Bernard looked towards the big snowman as the musical sisters began shaping the first layer.

"For children, like Melody and Harmony, it is joy, snow, Santa Claus and presents. For adults, like Ethan and Caley, it is holidays, family time, carols and maybe turkey too," he reasoned his stance.

"What is it for lonesome people like me?"

The stoic friend had no words to say. He was alone himself.

Harmony carefully began arranging the second layer of a medium-sized snow sphere. She handled each flake of snow with delicacy as Melody bolted towards the cottage. Maybe for the buttons and carrot, Bernard thought.

"Do they remember Alicia?"

The precious moments the couple shared with the twins were evoked by Bernard's mind.

"It's been three years since she left my life," tears reached the brink of his eyes," and I still cannot move on."

"My son insists on taking me to his apartment in Edinburgh so that I would forget her," he sniffled, "But I refuse to leave this cottage."

He shifted his gaze towards his abode. The home that was warmly filled with indelible memories. The home where Ethan grew with all the love the world could hold and the same house that lamented the last moments of its queen, Alicia.

"Does he know I suffer in loneliness? Why can't he stay with me instead?" tears trickled down his wrinkled face in frustration. He bent down to let his tears reach the icy floor.

A snowflake from the face of the snowman fell down on the icy tears. Were they tears?

Melody returned with a handful of buttons and a fresh carrot. Harmony successfully completed the second sphere and raised a thumbs-up sign to her grandfather, indicating a green flag for their project.

Bernard smiled through the flowing tears and raised his thumbs.

"Another Christmas without Alicia," he remarked.

"And I want it to be my last Christmas."

The delicate hand of the snowman snapped as the strong gust blew across them. The snowman felt no pain. His expression remained constant, the same gentle yet faint smile.

"Grandpa!" Melody shrieked, "Can you get some sticks?"

"Sure, princess!" he was elated as he finally got a chance take part in their project.

He stood up and dusted the snow that stuck to his coat with his bare hands. An odd sensation of relief spread through his soul. Finally, his heart had a chance to break through the curse of a frozen lock. To a lifeless person. To a snowman.

As Bernard walked towards his grandchildren, he paused. The burden that his heart carried slowly melted in the icy weather. Warmth spread till the tips of his fingers, releasing all the anxiety.

He slowly revolved towards the person who kept his company a few seconds ago.

"Thank you," those words left his mouth before he realized.

He smiled at his inanimate friend.

"For listening to my heart."