Short Story Collection

In a year

This one's kind of weird :p.

People walked around in heavy winter coats, not noticing the boy with the blue eyes and white hair sitting by the frozen lake.

He wasn't surprised at all. No one ever did.

His personality changed constantly, but today, he was more chill then chilly. He was in a good mood because it was a cold day, and he loved the cold. Or maybe he was used to it. But for their sakes, he made sure it wasn't so cold that it hurt. 

He had been early this year and Autumn hadn't quite left when he arrived, which meant he could hang around for a while. This was his favourite spot to sit in. He dipped his hand in the water, watching the frost slowly spread across the surface of the lake, then coat the grass around him in little ice crystals that formed beautiful patterns. 

He frowned, trying to figure out how long he'd been here. He'd lost track of time again. He looked down, noticing the circle of frost was slowly thickening and radiating out from him, killing plants between the cobblestones. The sky looked grey. Much to grey for his taste, and the wind around him had turned bitter cold. He could tell a snowstorm was coming.

He'd been here to long. He'd better get going.

He stood up and started walking down the path surrounding the lake. He noticed a few people riding bikes, and decided to keep up with them, running until he easily passed them. He couldn't waste any more time, or he'd run into Spring. And to him, she was insufferable.

As he sprinted into the distance, taking the cold with him, a girl with long, tangled brown hair walked through the area. She sat in the grass, having a conversation with the birds, who complained about a certain idiotic white haired boy in a dark hoodie that enjoyed staying in the area way to long.

Spring got more annoyed at Winter as they talked. He was always getting sidetracked, staying in one place much to long and then racing through the other. His mood changes were annoying. One minute he was cold and miserable, and the next he was fun and playful. Summer wasn't much better, and she prided herself on just having one personality, unlike the boys. She could still feel traces of cold, which indicated Winter had probably left just before she showed up. Spring hung around the area until she decided she'd been there long enough when a blast of heat hit her. Besides, she had to fix Winter's mess and she jogged down the pathway. 

Summer, on the other hand, wasn't in a hurry.

He knew Spring had just been through, then left quickly, following Winter as she always did. He liked this area but never dared stay for long, fearing he would hurt it. Indeed, already waves of heat started to turn the grass dry and brown. Although he could control the amount of heat, he could not get rid of it completely. He wished he was back in his house, where the heat didn't hurt anything.

Just like Winter, He thought. How ironic.

He had met the guy a few times, and he was startled by how similar they were. And also how different. They both were scared of what they were capable of. Even when they weren't trying, they could really hurt the Earth. They even looked somewhat alike, but he decided that was a coincidence. Honestly, he thought the Winter was usually pretty chill, but could have a temper.

If he was honest, he was kind of jealous that Winter could move so fast. He could fly if he really wanted to, but that took a lot of energy and usually wasn't worth it unless he had a very good reason. Then there was what he called 'The Fire Tornado Move', which was when he dissolved into hot air and could move around without getting exhausted quickly. But he hadn't mastered it yet, and every time he tried, he escalated global warming, panicking the humans and really annoying Winter. 

Autumn was enjoying life. She glided through the area just as Summer had left. When she walked next to the lake, the leaves on the trees turned a beautiful red and orange, her favourite colour. The grass started to disappear, turning a warm brown and the lake turned to a refreshing, cool temperature, leaving no hint that the season with the blonde hair and blue eyes had even been around recently.

She sighed, feeling slightly sad. It had been many years since she'd talked to anyone. Usually, she was very antisocial, content with following Summer wherever she went, never being seen, never talking. But it got slightly depressing after a while, and she would have been lying if she hadn't hoped that maybe, just maybe, Summer would hang around a bit longer than usual.

"Hey Autumn."

Autumn turned around in shock, recognising that voice. A boy with white hair and grey-blue eyes stood about ten meters away from her. And she gritted her teeth when she realised his presence was slowly causing the lake and grass to grow cold.

"Hello Winter." She said. "You are early. Way to early."

Winter shrugged, and she self-consciously tucked a stray strand of red hair behind her ear.

"Yeah. I didn't want Spring to catch me after I got sidetracked last year."

"Again." Said Autumn. "How many times do I have to tell you; Get. A. Watch."

Winter chuckled.

"Nah, I can't be bothered."

"You're messing up my work." Said Autumn, pointing to the ground, which was slowly being frozen. "You're not due around here for another month. Go back home, take a week off, then come back."

"I like this place." Protested Winter. "Besides, I'm bored. It's been years since I've talked to anyone."

"Winter, if you stay here any longer, you will mess this place up." Said Autumn. "You know the rules. Remember what happened fifteen years ago?"

Winter rolled his eyes.

"That was a one time thing."

"It snowed. In the desert. In Summer. "

"I got lost. And it hardly matters." He said. "Spring and Summer meet up all the time."

"It doesn't matter if they do, because they have similar seasons." Said Autumn. 

Winter looked down, and Autumn felt a strange emotion when looking at him. It took her a few moments to realise she felt sorry for him. 

Stop it Autumn, She thought to herself. He's not your friend.

Or was he? She thought it would have been good to have a friend. Someone to talk to, someone to laugh with.

But I am perfectly content with being alone, She thought. I don't really care, anyway.

That wasn't true, but Autumn had always been good at lying to herself.

"Have you seen Summer lately?" Winter asked, suddenly.

"Yeah." Sighed Autumn, looking at the grass. It felt cold. Way to cold.

"I should probably go..." Said Autumn. "I've been here long enough. Besides, I'm getting cold."

Winter looked at the lake.

"I don't feel the cold." He said. "Well I do, but not in the way you do. But Summer really has control over this area, I don't freeze it to much when I get here."

"Yeah." Said Autumn. "It doesn't hurt this place very much if we meet up here. Maybe I'll see you next year."

Winter smiled slightly, even though he felt crestfallen.

A year.

"That'd be great," He said, looking at Autumn. He was slightly taken aback by something he hadn't noticed before: Her orange and purple eyes glowed slightly. He also saw she was wearing a purple shirt and jeans, which he hadn't seen her wear before, and her red hair was in a messy bun. A sudden thought struck him: he had known Autumn for thousands of years, and he still didn't really know her. He didn't know anything about her. Nor did he know much about Summer or Spring. He didn't even know her real name.

"I'll see you later, I guess." Said Autumn. Then she turned around and walked towards Summer, leaving Winter alone.

Alone. 

Like always.