Here is my story:
The Snowbound Spirit
Aspen Rivers died on January 19, 1923. She was only 18. That January was warmer than usual, almost lukewarm compared to the frigid temperatures and biting wind chills that normally plagued her small town, North Tide, during the winter. Although it was a warm year, it was the snow that her family later associated with the death of their late daughter on that day. Their wonderful daughter Aspen. Her extraordinary soul was irreplaceable. So extraordinary that she ended up doing something remarkable. Something beyond the comprehension of ordinary human beings. Something Aspen wasn’t sure was worth the price of her freedom.
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93 years later, Aspen remained in North Tide. It was her hometown though none of her family was left. She yearned for the feeling of home, but it always felt like a pipe dream.
Aspen was in the school library working with her best friend and only accomplice, Tara, in her mission to understand why she was here now. Aspen’s existence was a mystery that both girls could never seem to solve. The girls had known each other since Tara was fifteen and Aspen was well… she was 18 and a few decades old. Tara was the only person who knew her secret. Aspen was a ghost. Most of Aspen’s friends failed to notice the ethereal quality of her gait that seemed unconnected to mortal beings, but Tara never missed it. Anyway, the town of North Tide prided itself on its charm and mysterious history. Ghost tours were a local favorite, though Aspen found them ridiculous.
“They pay good money to be scared by amateur actors,” she scoffed. “If only they knew the real ghost was right here, bored out of her mind.”
A soft buzz clicked over the intercom. The deep voice of the school’s headmistress flooded the room of students making everyone stop their work.
“Good afternoon and sorry for the interruption,” the woman’s voice rasped over the intercom, “we have some important announcements…”
Tara rolled her blue eyes at the sound and Aspen didn’t pay any attention to the rest of the announcements. If time is a construct, why am I still bound by this school bell? She took a seat by a table and impatiently rapped her smudgy fingernails against her books while glaring at the clock, daring it to be even a second off. As the bell rang the two girls leapt from their seats. Escaping the school was a feat all in its own. They ran past groups of students laughing and complaining about schoolwork around them. Aspen couldn’t help but long for what they had.
What does it mean to belong? Is it laughter in hallways, the warmth of shared secrets, or simply the illusion of being part of a story?
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Snow is formed high in the clouds, stemming from water vapour. When the temperature and the clouds are cold enough, the water vapor crystallizes around bits of dust inside the cloud. The water vapour freezes into crystals of ice, and when they are heavy enough, they fall freely to the ground. When the thick, white, blanket of snow covers a town, everything will become hidden and obscured. Things get buried despite their attempts to claw out and slip past the surface. The pure white sheet is too powerful, forcing things to stay concealed…
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They were sitting in a large corner booth of a diner when Aspen noticed a snowflake flutter down to the ground just outside the window.
“Hey Jane,” Aspen turned to the group to look skeptically at the blonde, “Was there snow in the forecast?” Jane looked back at Aspen, getting cut off mid-sentence in her own conversation with Fern.
“No, I don’t think so, why?” Jane replied quizzically.
“Is it snowing?” Aspen asked giddily, leaning over the table to peer outside.
Aspen, entranced by the snow coming down harder than before looked at Tara with dread in her eyes when Jane stated that the snow would be gone by morning.
“That’s too bad, I really wanted to make snow angels.”
Aspen internally scolded herself for the misstep. She couldn’t have her friends suspecting anything. Aspen couldn’t explain her strange feelings towards the snow to them.
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The blizzard had been fierce, with wind so strong it felt like it could lift her off her feet. She could still see herself slipping on a deathly sheet of ice and falling. The memory was so clear – the shock of the cold, the hard impact of the fall, and then the pain. The crimson red pooling around her, staining the white snow. The pain, a searing agony that spread through her body. She swears she had tried to call out, a desperate scream for help, but the wind had swallowed her voice.
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“Hey, are you okay?” Tara looked at Aspen, her eyes filled with concern.
Aspen hadn’t realized she had zoned out from the conversation and stared at the snowflakes falling outside the diner window. They seemed too perfect, almost like they were CGI in a movie. She blinked hard.
Is this real, Tara? Or are we just characters in someone else’s story?
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When Aspen returned to Tara’s house later that night, she was met with silence. The sun had set hours ago, so she wasn’t that surprised to find everyone sleeping around the living room. Everyone except Tara, who was reading War and Peace “just for fun”. Tara looked up slowly and closed her book with a soft thump, so as not to wake the other sleep deprived teens. Concern was written all over her face, her wide blue eyes filled with anxiety.
“Are you okay?” Tara whispered as gently as she could.
“I will be.”
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She remembered laying there. Stunned and breathless, she could see the world around her spinning and blurring. The snow continued to fall. She tried to move, to push herself up, but her limbs felt heavy. The blood spread out in a dark, widening circle, too quickly.
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Aspen licked the last envelope closed. Three letters. She picked them up and entered the living room where everyone was sitting around the fire, just as she had hoped. She entered the room, and the quiet morning chatter abruptly stopped as everyone looked at Aspen. The silence was nauseating, but Aspen knew she had to be strong for once in her life. Having to break the tension, Aspen moved to hand each person their letter. They would explain everything.
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The snow had continued to fall around her. She could feel herself slipping away, her consciousness fading like the light of a dying candle
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“First, I need to apologize” Aspen started, “I know you have all been worried and I am sorry this has to happen so soon.” she continued cautiously. “These last few years have been so fun, and I’ve loved getting to know all of you.” Aspen had to stop as her voice broke, taking a second before continuing. “I just need to leave. I think I finally understand what happened, and I’m ready to go. I would stay here with you all, but my time was up so long ago.”
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Later, Aspen stood on the craggy rocks fully encompassed in fog, looking out at the horizon. The biting wind blew a stray black hair out from behind her ear, lifting it to float in the wind. It’s always the wind, isn’t it?
Serene was all Aspen felt as she walked to the water’s edge and peered into the glass-like liquid to see nothing at all but the jagged rocks below. Barefoot, she waded into the icy water, its soft ripples against her knees.
A warm drop fell on her cheek. She wiped it away, but the water’s surface was still. More tears fell. Another gust of wind, like death’s kiss, should have panicked her, but Aspen stood strong for once in her life. Snow had slowly started drifting down from the clouds, sparse but noticeable. Aspen didn’t know if this was just some sick joke on the Universe’s part or what, but the absurdity of the situation gave way to a small flutter in her chest. Her family was gone, and the past couldn’t be changed. She died a tragic death, but it was time to move on. 93 years were spent still attached to the physical presence of her hometown. She made friends but could never fully connect with them, a bitter hole of emptiness lived inside her. She was ready to join the rest of the spirits.
Catching a lone snowflake on her finger, a deathly cold filled her body. It started in her heart and coursed through her veins as she slowly began to fade.
Free at last.
Note: If this story confused you, that was the whole point! It was supposed to represent the chaos of Aspen’s mind and how she truly couldn’t remember what had happened 🙂
