There she is. She walks through the ticket barrier and a puzzled frown spreads across her imp-like face. She gazes around the train station, peering through commuters searching for somebody. Her gaze soon spies me and her eyes light up. The indent of her frown fades into that cute grin of hers and I can’t help but smile idiotically back.
Gone is the dark, straight hair I remember, replaced with gold brown curls. Two flowers, one the colour of snow and the other a frosty blue, adorn her hair.
She jogs over to me and leaps. I catch her and hug her tightly, my arms easily wrapping around her. Her head nestled underneath my chin, I breathe deeply of the two flowers and of her. A smile spreads across my bearded face as a single tear falls and freezes on my cheek.
I close my eyes and time slows. The commuters, the shoppers, the tourists all come to a stop; their frantic journeys frozen. A gentle snow starts to fall upon us, glittering in the sunlight.
I grudgingly place her back on the ground and she looks up at me. She is smiling still, but her eyes are soft with tears. With a blink, the tears break and gently roll down her cheeks. I raise a gloved hand and wipe them away. I kneel down and taking a simple silver ring from my pocket, place it delicately onto her finger. A broken laugh escapes her lips as fresh tears fall. I kiss her cheek and hold her to me once more.
As we embrace, my train pulls noisily into the station. The snow stops and the frozen people melt back into their frantic lives. We slowly break apart. She reaches out a soft hand and wipes the frost from my stubbled cheeks. She stands on tip-toes and whispers into my ear. Another set of tears fall and freeze, but a smile finds its way onto my lips.
With a final perfect, she walks away. I watch her until she melts into crowd. She never looks back. I turn back and board the train.
Spring has arrived… and I must leave.
