Winter Blossoms
Chapter One:
Lonely Man:
I am a simple
man. It’s how I have survived these crazy times. Most of the people have left
this town. I live in what you would call a ghost town. It doesn’t really bother
me. I like the quiet. No one bothers me anymore. I do have plenty of food and
water to survive. It does get lonely out here but there is a little dog out
here. I think he used to be the neighbor’s dog. He just came sniffing around one
day and I just gave him some food. Since then, he wouldn’t leave. I tried to
shoo him away but he didn’t take a hint. I ended up giving up and letting him
come around. I think the dog’s name is Marshmallow. Or something like that.
I’m not a fan of
technology. I do have a cell phone but what’s the point of keeping it around?
Nobody calls me. I don’t even know if mum is still alive. Even if she was I
wouldn’t know how to contact her. I have an old model computer that still works.
Sure, I have the internet but I barely use it. I don’t even have an email
anymore. (I closed that down years ago.) So how do I pass the time? I manage.
Trust me.
However, this
isn’t just about me. This is a love story of some sort, believe it or not. Yes,
there will be more people here. Three more people actually. Before I go any
further with this, I am going to go back to how we met.
It all starts
with a walk into town. At the time, I was running out of food again. How can one
person go through so many canned goods? I looked down at the little dog
sniffling my ankle. Oh yeah, that’s right. I reached down and pat Marshmallow.
“You’re eating
me out of house and home,” I said. That mutt looked up at me, whimpering. I
shook my head. Why did he have to look so cute? I stood up and grabbed my bag.
“I’ll be back,”
I said. I turned and walked out the door.
It was dim that
morning. The normal quiet greeted me as I stepped out onto the front step. I
looked down at my trainers. I keep meaning to replace them. I mean, it should be
easy to do. Money was useless and no one ran the store anymore. I don’t know why
I don’t go ahead and do it. I shook my head and started walking.
There wasn’t
much to talk about with my shopping trip. I just got the usual canned foods that
were left. The shops were going to be empty soon. Still, I don’t leave. I’m not
sure why.
There’s nothing for me
here anymore. Everyone is gone. This nightmare is going to be an endless one.
The news keeps reminding me of this. I pretty much stopped watching after that.
I don’t listen to the news on my radio either. I just want one time when I can
just shut up everything, sit around, and do nothing. Without the dog would be
nice.
I finished up my
shopping for the morning and started walking home. I hadn’t expected anything
else to happen that day. Not like there were going to be bombs dropping or
anything like that. No, this empty little town was nothing to them out there.
It’s me and the dog.