For December, Chrys. N. Jay brings a new tale to Tuesday Tales – a Christmas romance, Jingle Bells – Here Love Dwells. Join us for the next four weeks as the story snippets are written to two picture prompts and two word prompts.
Week One and Week Three are picture prompt weeks. These snippets will be short, as they’re limited to 300 words.
This week we’re writing to the word prompt ‘snow’.
Return here for more Tuesday Tales reading.
A light sprinkling of snow lit briefly on her cheeks. Katie looked away from the window and up towards the sky. A sprinkling of fluffy white flakes drifted through the air. Though not sticking on the ground…yet…the change in the weather spurred Katie into motion. She hurried the last few blocks towards home, anxious to get inside and crank up the heater.
Once inside she hung her jacket on the coat tree and nudged the thermostat up a few degrees. Her cat, PJ, met her in the kitchen, rubbing up against her ankles as soon as she flicked on the lights.
“I know PJ. You’re hungry. Hold on for a few.”
The urgent meows continued while the head butts against her skins got more insistent.
“Hold on little girl. You’re not going to die if you don’t get fed right this instant.”
PJ’s cries increased in volume.
Katie picked up the insistent feline and headed towards the pantry to retrieve a can of PJ’s favorite, flaky tuna and egg. Looking at the food dish on the floor, she saw the kitten’s problem. “Oh. I see now. You were almost ready to die of hunger. Your dish is only half full of crunchies. You poor starved little thing.”
PJ meowed in agreement.
Once the cat was taken care of and had a full belly, Katie rummaged in the refrigerator to see what she had for her own dinner. Not much. She been spending too much time working on client’s designs and purchasing supplies to make their dream holiday visions come to life that she hadn’t spent enough time in the grocery store stocking up on her own necessities.
Oh well. It’s not like there’s anyone else to cook for.
She pulled out a loaf of bread and decided to throw together an easy sandwich.
An uneasy feeling, apparent since her phone call with her friend Sally, had been tugging at the corners of her heart. She didn’t know why she was feeling so dissatisfied at the moment. Thinking she must be overly tired, she decided to have an easy night. No planning. No creating centerpieces. Just her and PJ and a sappy movie. She made a cup of hot chamomile tea, dropped in a lemon slice, and carried it to the living room.
As she settled down on the sofa, PJ hopped up beside her and began kneading the top of her thigh. Making room for the cat who proceeded to curl up in her lap, Katie picked up the remote and surfed to find something interesting to watch.
Searching the channels, she found one of the popular holiday movies, which wasn’t too far along, and started watching it. About ten minutes in it dawned on her – of course, this would be one that had a drippy, romance worked into the Christmas plot.
She watched for a while until the sweet romantic scenes had her almost in tears. Jabbing at the ‘off’ button with a vengeance, she shut the television down and headed for bed, leaving the dregs of her cold tea sitting on the coffee table for the night.
Sleep came fitfully that night, and Katie was glad when the alarm finally buzzed. Getting up she peered out the window to check and see if a white world awaited her. Seeing that the snowfall had melted, leaving no trace of its presence, she decided to walk to work again. Maybe another brisk walk would help her release some frustrations.
An hour later, Katie stood at the doorway to her office, stomping her feet to remove the damp bits stuck to her boots. Her phone rang as she entered the dark premises.
“Hello. Even-Glow Designs. Katie speaking.”
“Katie Owen?”
“This is she.”
“This is Ryan, with Bryrwick Electric. I was making a follow-up call about your outage. Has your power been restored?”
Katie leaned over and flipped a switch. Nothing. “Nope. Still out.”
“All right. I’m at the transformer at the end of the block. I’ll be there in about five minutes.”
Katie plopped down on the loveseat usually reserved to show clients different possible design options. No sense in taking off her jacket in the frigid office. She certainly couldn’t go bump the heat higher with no power.
She hadn’t sit there for long when she heard footsteps approaching her door. The door sprung open and man stood in the doorway, his silhouette highlighted by the bright sunlight outside. Looking up at the six foot plus figure standing there, Katie almost thought it was a flashback from the movie from the evening before. Except for the grizzly stubble on his cheeks and chin and the hefty electricians belt around his far from tubby waist, the handsome vision standing before her was unlike any of the utility companies workers that she’d seen before.
Return here for more Tuesday Tales reading.
Chrys N. Jay 