She trudged home, her backpack dangling precariously from
one shoulder. As she readjusted it for
the millionth time she lectured herself, “What worked in Florida surely didn’t
work here.” She had thought that moving
was the answer. As her nose went numb,
and she readjusted her backpack again she realized that she may have over
romanticized the allure and beauty of living in a snowy state during the
winter. Clearly, walking at 12 degrees
was not going to continue to work. She was wearing more clothes right now than
she had once taken for a weeklong trip to the Keys. Well, that did it, just recalling that trip
made her more determined to keep to her plan.
Time and distance were supposed to heal all wounds.
Kelsey had to admit to herself, if no one else, that her
life was a mess. Yet as she reached her
little house she had to smile. Her dog
had his nose pressed up against the window, making smudges in the fogged over
glass as she walked up the driveway. As
she approached the door she could hear him talking to her, and as she opened
the door he almost knocked her down with tail wagging enthusiasm to see her. “Woof
to you too my Cooper, come on out and play.”
Laughing, she set down her backpack and followed him out into the
yard. As he ran around, still not
entirely sure of his opinion of the wet, cold snow on his paws, she surveyed
their new world.
The house was small, yet it had all she and Cooper needed a
little kitchen with a window where she would could look out into the yard
filled with the greatest Christmas trees all green and proud, sprinkled with
the latest of Mother Nature’s twinkling snow.
Beyond the kitchen there was a cozy living room, and then her
bedroom. Off the kitchen to the other
side was another bedroom, or in her case, her home office as well as a full
bathroom. It was just the two of them
and she didn’t need more. No she shook
her head, she had more before and it was too much, she didn’t need it all. When she lost her home she thought the world
had come to an end. When she had lost
him, she had indeed lost everything.
As Cooper bounded towards her through the snow she shook off
her thoughts and smiled. That is one
thing that she did like about being here, in a small town in the dead of an icy
cold winter, she had found her genuine smile.