The Promise of Winter: A Short Story

Keya looked over at the presents neatly stacked under the Christmas tree and smiled. For someone who had never celebrated Christmas before, she certainly had gotten into the spirit of the festival really well.

In fact, this was her first winter in Canada. Her husband and she had landed in Toronto seven months ago when the weather was still warm and sunny. Back home, there was an abundance of sun and one just took it for granted. But here, after five days of cloudy and dreary weather, the sun was just starting to peek out of the clouds. Sunlight hit the snow on the ground and sparkled. Keya knew that she just had to head out and breathe in some fresh air.

She put on a sweater and her new down jacket. This was followed by warm socks, heavy boots, a hat, and gloves. After wrapping a bright red scarf around her neck, she stepped out and breathed in the crisp cool air. It was biting cold, but Keya knew she would warm up once she got moving.

She set off at a brisk pace towards the trail behind her house. They had discovered the trail accidentally in their early days here and she had found herself returning time and again, seeing it go from brown and slushy in the spring to lush green in the summer to bright and colorful in the fall. Now Keya was curious to see what it looked like in the snow.

As she walked, she felt glad that they had decided to live in the suburbs of Toronto. There was so much more opportunity to connect with nature here and Keya found that nature fed her soul like nothing else could.

On reaching the trail, she first glanced toward the creek that ran beside it. It was frozen in parts but it shimmered in the sunlight, looking magical. The trees were dusted in powdery snow, looking majestic and elegant. Keya imagined that if she ever walked into the fictional land of Narnia, this is what it would look like. Half an hour later, she turned back at the end of the trail and found herself looking forward to returning to the coziness of her home. She thought of her hands wrapped around a mug of hot chocolate while she sat near her sparkling Christmas tree. She would pick up the soft yarn she was knitting into a little sweater.

Next year, the winter would be even more special. Tiny hands would lie in hers, a small soft body warming her up. She put her hand on her rounded belly and smiled. Winters would never be the same again. They held the promise of tinkling laughter and cuddles on the couch.