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Those memories from years ago hadn’t faded, nor did they stop leaving the sweet sting of the bitter past. The past hadn’t left her, but she walked by it, accepting its presence and not letting it block her path.
Lacey tried to put aside moments for herself in between the stress of work and rent. Treating herself to bubble tea, buying a new CD, or calling up a friend to spend time with. The winter of 2007 was no different. She’d drink a cup of cocoa while snuggled into a blanket, watching the later block of television shows on the channels she had. She’d make a cup of soup, warm and hot with salty, savory broth and fresh noodles. She’d find mediocre flash games on her half-broken computer to pass the time and put a smile on her face.
But the winter of 2007 was colder than usual. A little more quiet. A little lonely. Lacey kept herself busy on the days the snow fell the hardest, but couldn’t always put a smile on her own face. I can have fun today, she’d tell herself. I can smile .
Lacey woke up that morning, the air biting her fingertips and the snow outside glistening like a field of crystals. She looked outside, a warm smile growing on her face as the sun danced across the white ground. To her surprise, two pairs of footprints trailed past her window – the prints of large boots, and the prints of smaller, dainty shoes. Lacey knew that that could mean only one thing.
She rushed to her front door just as a hard fist knocked on the door. She swung the door open, looking at the two figures standing in front of her, in full snow gear. A taller girl with a soft smile and pastel all over, and a shorter, grinning girl with sports shorts and tall boots stood. Maisie and Jay.
“Of course you’re wearing shorts,” Lacey laughed, looking at Jay before saying anything else. She lets the girls in, both of them taking off their wildly different shoes in the entryway. “What are you two doing here? I didn’t think we had plans.”
“We just decided to stop by, chill for a little, maybe play some games or sled outside,” Jay said casually, while still grinning like a maniac.
“ Jay wanted to stop by,” Maisie clarified in her usual soft voice. “Sorry for intruding.”
“Oh, no, no. No worries,” Lacey said, her voice slipping through the smile on her face. “It’s really pretty outside today, if you want to sled, as Jay suggested.”
“Yes! Woohoo!” Jay whooped. “I’ll find a piece of scrap metal.
“And I’ll warm my hands for a minute.” Maisie took off her gloves and rubbed her hands together. Lacey put her own hands together, feeling the rough calluses on her fingertips.
Lacey stood in front of her mirror and reached into her wardrobe, pulling out warm pants and a cute winter coat. She grabbed a hat off of the rack behind the door. She only needed her boots, then she’d be ready to go out.
The three girls stepped outside, the frost shining on every surface in front of them. Jay ran out, leaving a wild mess of footprints in the untouched snow in front of her, heading for the large hill of snow barely a hundred meters away. Maisie stepped off the porch, her dainty shoe prints trailing Jay’s. Lacey stepped her boot into the white snow.
Crunch.
The air felt fresh. The snow soft but supportive below her. She took a breath in, the cold hitting the back of her throat. It felt crisp; new. She leapt forward after Maisie and Jay, into the sunlight.
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Hours passed. Jay was snuggled into a blanket, rubbing her frosted hands together. Maisie sat next to her, reminding Jay that she warned her about going gloveless for that long. Lacey watched them from the kitchen, stirring a pot of hot chili. The spices hitting her nose gave her a nostalgia for some time she’d never been. It felt homey. It should, she supposed.
This is my home now.
She scooped two bowls of piping hot chili, handing one to Maisie and one to Jay. Dug in immediately.
“Hot!” she said, with her mouth half full.
Maisie stirred her chili before taking a bite. “This is incredibly delicious. As your food always is. I don’t know how you’re not a chef.”
Lacey smiled. She went back to the kitchen, scooping herself a bowl. She sat down, crisscross, on the other side of Maisie. She stirred her chili and took a bite. It tasted like home.
“Let’s see what’s on!” Jay took another bite before she even finished talking. “I know you have lots of channels!”
“You can,” Maisie said, handing Jay the remote.
Lacey looked over at her two friends’ faces, their warm smiles filling the room. Lacey smiled, melting the frost on her windows and the air outside. She smiled, her past walking further away. She had people she loved.