Winter Short Story

This is my winter short story that I wrote for my club at my high school. Grammarly graded it a 100%, I wouldn't say that it was a 100% myself, but it was a valiant effort. Also the name, Marley, was just a random name I chose because my friend said that Marley was a weird name so I decided to use it. Also Jacob Marley was Scrooge's dead business partner in The Christmas Carol, so I thought it was fitting (not the death part, the winter/Christmas connection) #normalizeMarley

Marley was closing up the shop, but a blizzard was swirling that night. She shivered to the idea of complete stillness and cold. Marley sighed to herself as she saw that the weather was in no condition for her to walk in, meaning she had to stay in the shop until the storm pulled over.

A light bulb popped and blew out, and then the rest blew out. Marley cursed under her breath and walked into the storage room to find more bulbs. She then heard a loud thump, and she quickly backed away from the storage room door. She groaned to the darkness of the shop and assumed that the power outage had been from the storm.

Marley ran to one of the old wooden tables, pulled her winter jacket over her head since the frost would get in eventually. She started to feel some of the cold air slip into the shop. She curled up on the chair and hugged herself. Her hands were feeling drier, her cheeks were flushing, and her toes were numbing to the cold. Her breath was feeling heavier, her lungs almost getting filled with frost. She could see her breath forming into loose cloudy puffs.

She slid off the chair and onto the ground, and wrapped her arms around her legs. She buried her head in her arms, silently listening to her thoughts, trying to focus on something else other than the roaring blizzard. Her ears were so cold they got to the point of feeling warm. Her shaky heartbeat and fingers kept distracting her. The entire store was oddly quiet except for the tapping of the ice hitting the glass window, the blow and rumble of the wind, and the unpredictable creaking of the old building. The tiniest creak and scrape would send Marley jumping. The stillness of the shop felt eerie, and the darkness almost felt consuming. The only light she could see came from the bright rock in the sky.

She got irritated by just sitting there, and the feeling of helplessness overthrew her need for safety. She got up, grabbed her backpack, and reached for the door handle. As she opened the door just a crack, an immediate gust of wind blew open the door, and she already felt the regret of her decision. After a battle against the wind and door handle, she was able to yank the door closed and lock it.

Marley turned around and stared into the white and grey scenery. The snow and ice had already passed on their effects, and the chilling feeling she had before quickly got worse. She slowly stomped her way through the ice and listened to the sound of crunching snow mixing with the sound of the frosted wind. The cold had already been pounding at her head, frostbiting her skin, and ringing in her ears. She needed to find a way to get rid of her blizzard sized headache. She groaned at the distance that she had to travel to get to town, her upcoming adventure through the snowy hills. She saw the small glow in the distance, almost at her grasp. She mourned and longed for the warmth of hot chocolate, the heat of her stove cooking stew, and the comfort of her home.

She had been traveling through the snow for what seemed like forever. She turned around to see the distance she’d covered and saw that she barely left the shop. She screamed into the empty air trying to cry out her frustration. She yanked at her scarf and threw it in front of her. She fell to her knees and then slumped right into the ice and snow. She felt water in her eyes but then wiped it away to prevent the temperature from freezing her tears. She remembered that she needed gloves as she saw her dark red skin. She quickly got up and continued her travels through the hills.

After her dreadful and boring exploit through the snow, she arrived at her town. Dead tree leaves rustled along the pavement from the gusts of wind. The street lights lit with blurry glowing circles. The sound of caroling, laughter, and horse-drawn carriages echoed throughout the foggy air. Marley heard the shop bells close by ringing as the doors opened. She breathed in the aromas around her. The smell of chocolate and warm Christmas sweets lightened her headache.

“Where to next?” She asked herself, staring down at the few coins in her hand, hoping to save up for some bread, maybe a pork pie if she was patient enough. She fidgeted with the copper and silver pieces as she curiously looked around for the right pastry shop.

Marley walked around her town and decided it was best to go home. After several minutes of greeting fellow neighbors and plastering her smile, she made it home. Once Marley stepped into her house, Marley slumped onto the nearest chair. She was continuously shivering and couldn’t seem to get herself warmer. Her bones felt so brittle that if she fell to the ground, she would physically shatter. Her skin was so red and dry that she couldn’t even touch it without wincing. She contemplated in her mind whether she got hypothermia or not.

As Marley sat there, she started hearing purring and scratching near her door. She slowly stood up and saw a cardboard box with a paper stapled to the outside.

“Take care of my cat Pepper,” Marley read out loud the writing on the paper, then peaked into the box. She saw a gray Persian cat curled up at the bottom of the box. Marley was at first confused about why her landlord had decided to leave this cat at her door. Soon after, Marley was happy to be accompanied by this furry friend.

Marley wobbly walked towards her hearth and carefully lit it up. She stepped aside, laid down, and wrapped herself with a blanket. She sat there as her skin drank in the blessed heat of the fire. Pepper purred and rubbed its face against Marley’s leg. Marley smiled at Pepper, picked it up, and held it close.

“You would never abandon me. Would you, Pepper?” Marley teased. The cat fell asleep in her arms, and Marley soon did after.