“His woman left him!” The shout came from one of the snowmen rebuilt that day by the neighbor kids. “He’s lying.”
“Potato nose!” another said.
“You smell like rotten mistletoe!” a third yelled.
“Meow,” said the fourth.
“You want me to take off your head next?” she retorted before she could stop the words. “Or maybe I’ll tear that carrot right off your face and shove it up your —”
“Jesus,” Robby exclaimed. “Everything ok?”
“Not talking to you,” she said. None of the snowmen responded, and she turned her attention back to the man in front of her. “Robby, what you say sounds good. It’s what we planned, but I just … I don’t know.”
“Great, come with me to dinner, and we’ll talk things over.” He offered his arm in the first gallant act she’d seen from him. She took his arm and gazed up at him, noticing how his nose really did look like a little potato. His gaze was on his car, and he looked unhappy.
“So, why’d you leave her?” she asked.
“Just wasn’t going to work out,” he said. “We have all these plans. Will make my life easier to have some sort of stability, and she was crazy as hell.”
Her heart sank as she realized the snowmen were right. Robby wasn’t here because he wanted her; he was here because he wanted someone.
“Who the hell is that?” Robby asked suddenly.
She twisted to see where he looked and saw Evan stopped beneath a streetlamp, a small bouquet of white lilies and silver tinsel in his hand. He met her gaze, his smile fading. She felt his loss of happiness like the uncomfortable coldness that pooled around her ankles in her drafty apartment.
“That’s my date,” she said.
“Well, tell him you’ve got a date with your fiancé,” Robby snapped.
Sandy looked up at him, then over at Evan. She stepped away, as if to tell Evan farewell, then paused.
“Robby, can I ask you something?”
“I have reservations at seven, so make it quick,” he replied with a glance at his watch.
“If you had one chance to be with me, and you had to turn yourself into, say, a snowman for two days to do it, would you do it?”
“What are you talking about?”
“Just answer the question.”
“It makes no sense! Turn myself into a snowman? That’s ridiculous,” he said, irritated.
“So you wouldn’t do that, even for me?” she prodded.
“I wouldn’t even consider something so stupid.” His words stung hard, but they weren’t a complete surprise to her.
Evan would. She didn’t know much about the snowman-turned-human, but he’d given up an awful lot just for a date.
“Goodbye, Robby. I have a date,” she said and turned around. Evan had turned away and was halfway down the block.
“B…but we’re engaged!” Robby sputtered.
“Not anymore.” She ran before he could say more, tears stinging her eyes as she went after Evan. “Evan, wait!”
He stopped without turning, and she slid to a halt near him. Sandy wiped her eyes, hurting from the closure of her two year relationship with Robby but genuinely happy Evan hadn’t been scared off.
“Are those flowers for me?” she asked when he remained quiet.
“They’re for my date,” he replied.
“Then that’s me.”
He turned, his blue eyes taking in her face with sadness and concern before looking past her to Robby and his car.
“I’m a bit tore up emotionally,” Sandy said. “But I want this date with you. More than anything. If it’s not too late …”
“It’s not,” Evan said, features softening with his smile. “You’d take a chance on a snowman?”
“It would be my honor to spend the evening with you, even if you turn into snow at the end of it.”
He offered the flowers and his arm. She took both.
“Are you really going to turn into snow at midnight?” she asked.
“Not anymore.”
“What do you mean?”
“I had two days to win you over. I think I did it,” he said with another glowing smile. “At least, I hope the snow fairy agrees I did it. We’ll find out at midnight.”
Sandy smiled. She heard Robby’s Mustang roar away but didn’t look. Part of her would hurt for awhile, but the other part of her was excited to be with a man so thrilled to be with her.
“Where are we going?” she asked with a shiver.
“To watch Santa cross the sky.”
“You mean there’s really a Santa?”
“Of course there is. You don’t really think I’m from Alaska, do you?” he asked with a wink that made her heart jump in her chest.
Her smile grew wider.
“Look how beautiful,” he said and paused at the end of the block, where an open lot glowed with snow. Pine trees lined the back of the lot, giving it the feeling of a small meadow instead of a vacant lot. She hadn’t appreciated the snow-scape before but looked at it now. Snow sparkled, and the pine trees swayed in a cold wind that blew wisps of snow off of branches into the sky.
“It is beautiful,” she said, surprised by the subtle magic of a lot she’d passed every winter without noticing. Sandy crept closer to Evan until he wrapped his arms around her, enveloping her in his marshmallow scent. “Evan, I hope the snow fairy lets you stay here.”
“Me, too,” he whispered.
“If not, I’ll take a bat to every snow globe I see for the rest of my life,” she swore.
Epilogue
Sandy didn’t have to take a bat to even one snow globe. Evan didn’t turn into snow at midnight, and he didn’t melt like all the other snowmen in Spring. He stuck around and opened a bakery that specialized in Christmas cookies all year round. One year after they met, they got married in the moonlight in a ceremony attended by her family, one snowman-turned-human, and his father, a stocky snowman named Chuy.
* * *
Lizzy Ford is the author of the paranormal romance Damian/War of Gods series and the Rhyn Trilogy. She writes to keep the people in her head from killing her.
Find her online at https://www.guerrillawordfare.com/
Saving Grace
Julia Crane
Grace hated Christmas.
What was it about the holiday that turned people into raving lunatics? Grace’s stom-ached churned at the thought of going to work and facing the mobs of shoppers. Decem-ber was not a good month for an empath to be working at one of the largest stores in New York City.
What had she been thinking when she took the job? It was hard enough dealing with her gift on a regular day, but the holidays were peak season. She may as well have been a kid taunting a rabid dog.
Her shoulders slumped as she crossed the room to grab her coat. She would have done anything to avoid going out into the city. If only she could hide away in the woods but, that was not an option. Her father had left and her mom was barely making ends meet. Grace had to go to work.
She wrapped the belt of her full-length, black wool coat around her waist. From the rack by the coat closet, she grabbed her reindeer cap and pulled it snugly down over her ears. The last thing she needed was an earache. It had been months since they’d lost their health insurance. A doctor visit was out of the question.
Grace closed her eyes and took five deep breaths, trying to center herself. It was something she always did before she headed out—made it easier to deal with the ugliness that awaited her beyond her front door.
Don’t think about them, she kept repeating in her head. Let them be miserable. Don’t let it ruin your day.
Once outside, she managed to smile at the sound of her feet crunching in the snow. She lifted her face to the sky and laughed as the flakes fell on her skin. For just a moment, her heart was light; she was happy. She twirled around and around with the cold wind on her skin, wasting as much time as she could. Once she got to the main streets of the city, she knew the happiness
wouldn’t last.
Too bad, she thought with a sigh.
As Grace approached the subway station, she could feel the tension in the air. She grabbed ahold of the cold railing and tried not to get pushed into the crowd. She looked around at the commuters, all in such a hurry. Their auras were all muddled; most were grey or brown.
Love, peace, and joy, my ass. When did Christmas become such a stressful chore? She wished she could scream at everyone to relax and enjoy the holidays—they would be over soon enough. Of course, no one would listen to her even if she did.
She tried to block the negativity that was surrounding her, but she couldn’t—there was just too much. As it always did, it started seeping into her soul. She could feel the blackness take over; any positive thoughts she tried desperately to grasp onto were out of her reach. Her mother called it her gift. To Grace, it was a curse. She just wanted to be able to hold onto her own feelings and not have to soak up everyone else’s.
As she was stepping onto the train, a guy dressed head to toe in black bumped into her. Grace glared at him. “Watch it, buddy.”
“What are you going to do about it?” he said, his voice harsh. His eyes drifted up and down her body in that gross, perverted way every woman knows. His aura was so murky it looked like a veil over his face.
Grace turned away, heading for the back of the cab and as far away from him as she could get. She sat in an empty seat and crossed her legs and arms, looking the other way. Nowadays, you couldn’t be sure that someone wasn’t going to pull a knife or a gun over something so stupid.
Finally, the tram arrived at her stop. She didn’t know what was worse—the subway or her job.
She heard the dreaded bells chiming as she walked up to the store. A man’s voice called, “Help those in need.”
Grace looked up and made eye contact with the man. In that instant, she felt what he felt. He was miserable, cold, and only there because he had to be for community service hours. She reached in her pocket and threw her snack money in the can as she headed into the store.
She was greeted by, “Grace, you’re late again. Keep this up and we are going to have to fire you.”
Grace glanced over at Marie and could feel the stress radiating off her manager. “I get here as fast as the subway takes me. I’m only three minutes late.” She pulled off her hat and stared at her boss. “You know you can’t fire me during the holiday season so let’s stop with the false threats.”
The manger looked at Grace in surprise, and then pursed her lips. “Just don’t make a habit of it.”
Grace rolled her eyes and walked back to get her cash draw. She passed her fellow employees and absorbed their misery. She always found it interesting that they put on such a display of being cheerful to the customers when inside they were anything but happy. People hid so many emotions. Unfortunately for Grace, she got to feel them all—her own as well as strangers.
Grace put on her own fake smile and opened her register. There were already three girls ringing up customers; Grace was just one more set of hands to work. And once she got started, it would be a while before she could breathe again.
“Hurry up, lady. Don’t you know we have places to be?” The man at the front of the line was glaring at Grace. There were mumbles of agreement from the assorted crowd waiting to checkout.
Grace wanted to punch the guy in the face. As if I wouldn’t rather be anywhere but here, she thought angrily. She was thankful that one of the other cashiers opened before she could, so Grace didn’t have to wait on him.
Grace spent the next two hours ringing out ungrateful customers. Some complained about prices, others about quality, not to mention all the returns she had to deal with. The feelings all built up until she was angry and bitter; and she still had six hours till her shift ended. Mostly, she was mad at her father for leaving them. If he hadn’t left, she could be home curled up with a book in front of the fireplace, drinking hot chocolate. She should be out enjoying life like other teens her age. Not dealing with this nonsense for minimum wage.
“Grace, go on break.” Cindy, the head cashier, yelled from her position at the other end of the counter.
“You don’t have to tell me twice.” Grace locked up her drawer and looked at her watch. She only had twenty minutes, and couldn’t risk being late again, so she set the alarm on her phone.
Grace decided to go out the back door to get some fresh air. It was freezing outside, but she couldn’t stand being cooped up in that building any longer.
The sun had set, and with the glow from the streetlights, the back alley was kind of creepy. The ground was covered in icy patches and the air was so frigid she almost immediately began shivering—but it was preferable to be alone and cold than inside.
She noticed a homeless man at the end of the alley shuffling towards her, and she was surprised to see his aura was yellow. That was usually the color of happiness. Go figure—he had nothing and he was happy. She would never understand human nature.
Grace rubbed her hands together and blew on them, watching curiously as he approached. He appeared to be in his fifties, with long, shaggy grey hair. She took in his tattered clothing, normal for a homeless guy, but what stood out the most was the sparkle in his eyes.
“Merry Christmas,” he said brightly as he walked by.
Grace couldn’t help herself. She turned to him. “Excuse me, sir. Can I ask you a question?”
He shrugged, turning around. Beneath his bright orange ski cap, his face was covered in a salt-and-pepper beard that nearly concealed his smile. “Sure, what is it?”
“Why are you so cheerful?”
He laughed so loudly it startled her. He gestured around them. “It’s like a gold mine out here. All these shoppers are in such a rush they keep throwing out half-eaten meals. I’m living like a king.” He patted his flat stomach and grinned.
Grace smiled, seriously affected by his attitude. For a moment, she felt happy again, but then her alarm went off. She glanced at the screen, dismissed the alarm, and grimaced. “Back to work.”
“Don’t let them get to you.” He waved and continued on his way.
Grace smiled as she walked through the back door. Why couldn’t there be more men out there like him? She realized how ironic that sounded. Did she really want there to be more homeless people? Of course not—just more people that enjoyed what they had.
She stepped through the door, letting it slam shut behind her, and made her way back to the front of the store. Grace hadn’t thought it was possible, but it was even busier than before she left. All the people bustling around looked stressed out. There were a few who looked indifferent.
She figured that was better than being miserable.
Grace rolled her eyes at a little boy throwing a fit in an aisle the poor mother looked like she was going to have a breakdown. In another, a young couple was in an argument over what to buy for someone. People seemed to be just going through the motions: Throwing things in their baskets and hurrying down the next aisle. Faces were lined with stress and fatigue. All their emotions were wearing on her and Grace worried she was going to go crazy.
Two more hours passed. Grace’s feet were killing her. All she wanted to do was go home and fall into bed. She wouldn’t even have time to complete her homework for the evening. Her grades had started to tank since she took the job, but there was really nothing she could do about it.
The sound of whistling surprised Grace; the tune sounded like “Deck the Halls.” She looked around, trying to see where it was coming from.
A boy was walking through the store, surrounded by a brilliant, white light that radiated from him. He looked to be about thirteen. He was completely bald and wearing a white t-shirt that she couldn’t quite make out from the distance. Others turned to stare at him as he passed, and he smiled serenely back.
Grace was oddly drawn to the boy, but she lost sight of him after a few minutes. She kept thinking about him as she was ringing purchases, ignoring customers as s
he looked around in hopes of catching a glimpse of him. She eventually gave up, figuring he had already left the store. She waited on countless people as time slowly ticked by.
The trickle of customers had slowed for the moment, and Grace was walking down the counter, tossing out old receipts and giving the area a general clean-up. She had just stood from picking up a stack of gift wrap tissue from the floor, when someone said, “Hello.”
Grace looked up and met the bluest eyes she had ever seen. They were as light and clear as the sky on a cloudless day. She couldn’t take her eyes off them.
It was the boy. His peace and happiness radiated from him and into her body. She wished she could grasp hold of him and never let him go. Finally, she realized she was staring and the people behind him were complaining.
“Hi,” she told him. “Did you find everything you were looking for?”
“I did.” His basked was full of things. He leaned forward, letting some of the items fall onto the counter.
“That’s a lot of stuff.” Grace smiled at the boy. She looked down and read his shirt. Yes I Have Cancer. Stop Staring.
“Cool shirt.” Grace smiled warmly.
“I like it. It gets people to stop staring at my head.” He gave her an infectious smile. The light around him seemed to brighten. His aura wrapped around her like a blanket.
“I could see how that could be annoying.” Grace continued to ring up his items. “Did your mom send you out with a list?”
The boy chuckled. “No, these are all the things my family had mentioned they would like to have. I’ve been saving up my birthday money since I was a baby. The doctor told me this would probably be my last Christmas, so I figured I better make good use of the money.”
Grace stared at him, not knowing what to say. “I’m sorry,” she said softly, unable to make eye contact.
“Don’t be. My time is up, that’s all. Soon, I get to see what else is out there. I’m actually pretty excited about it.”
Grace was taken aback. “You’re excited?”
“Sure, once you get past the fear. I’ve been very lucky. I have a great family and friends and have enjoyed my time here. At least I know when mine will be up.”
“I guess that’s true…”
“I’m grateful I get to have one more Christmas with my family. What more could I ask for?” The boy shrugged and smiled. His eyes were practically glowing and his bright white aura had sparks flying in the air.