Mittens

He watched as she hugged herself tightly, her down coat doing nothing to warm her against the frigid weather. Even with the layers of awkwardly bundled clothing she was much too tiny to look at: the surrounding snow banks swallowed her up in their vastness, her pink mittens the only thing keeping her from fading away into the ubiquitous white blanket.
Her discolored lips formed a hard line against the pink flush of her cheeks, her eyebrows furrowed in confusion and, though it pained him to acknowledge it, anger. Her gray eyes held his - his patient and cautious, hers stubbornly pleading, wanting, wondering, hoping, needing. Fighting. Loving.
Seven years ago he fell in love with the person in those eyes.
Now, when he recognized not the frail being she had become, when he understood not the feverish gibber she would vomit on the worse days, he would grasp her eyes with his and he would find her in the gray.
A cough wracked her body and forced her to release his gaze as she fought to regain posture.
It was getting harder and harder for her to drive away the coughing. She shouldn't be outside on such a cold day. What had he been thinking when he asked her to meet him here?
Her coughing ceased and she nodded to the train ticket in his hands, her breathing shallow but her face no longer creased in anger - too great was the effort it took to convince her face to hold on to such a strong emotion. She was finding she no longer possessed the strength.
"Where exactly are you going?"
He did not reply immediately, instead tracing the crease of the ticket with his thumb. He cleared his throat. "Somewhere far away. I don't know where yet."
"Why?"
"It's costing you to have me here."
She shivered and pulled the mitten from her right hand, letting it fall to the snow by her feet. Without hesitation she cupped his chin in her miniscule hands. He felt his skin freeze as her icy fingers caressed him, felt them tremble as she tried to steady her hold. "Baby?" Her voice cracked. "Baby, what’s the matter?"
"You - us. Our love."
She shook her head and tightened her hold on his chin with what little force she had, pressing him to meet her gaze. "What does our love have to do with you leaving?"
He covered her trembling hand with his, gently tugging it from his face and enveloping it in his calloused hands. "It’s complicated."
Salt water stung her cheek and soiled the snow unnoticed. He squeezed her uncovered hand and she brought the other one to his chest, curling it against the buttons of his jacket. "Please stay. I can be brave... You know I can be brave. I've always been brave." Her voice rose an octave as her eyes grew desperate, her body shaking with the cold and illness and the beginnings of hysterics. "When have I not been brave? I am always brave. Always."
"You always have been... that's why you must let me leave. Anyone can face guns and knives, but only the bravest can give up those they love. You are brave - you always have been, you're right - and so you will let me go. It's for the best."
She flinched, withdrawing her hands from him with a shudder. They fell to her side limply and she stumbled backwards, blinded by tears and anger and the injustice of being abandoned.
He bit his lip deeply, digging his teeth into the soft flesh. The iron taste of blood and guilt stung his tongue and he tensed, clenching his eyes shut against the image of the sobbing woman.

She fell ill in the spring almost two years ago. In the beginning they had ignored the coughs and lethargic spells, chalking it up to pollen allergies and the after-effects of a long winter. Spring bloomed to summer and she only grew sicker - by the time summer shed to autumn her condition was still worsening. Winter stole across the land and still she showed no signs of recovery. By then she had been to the hospital five times, two of which had been long-term stays. She was growing thinner by the day and often had to stay indoors for weeks at a time.
Through it all he had been by her side. She clung to his presence, making up for a lack of physical strength with the steel grip of love. Sicker and sicker she grew, everyday another day of agony and suffering on both the lovers' behalves.
It was after a particularly rough visit to the hospital that he was approached by a nurse. To this day he remembers the way the man peered at him over his clipboard, clearing his throat and lowering his voice so that she wouldn't overhear from her cot.
"Judging by her condition, she should have passed away months ago. Cases like hers are rare, and though there is no solid proof supporting the theory, it is speculated that those like her only continue to live because there is something keeping them on earth - something they refuse to let go of." Here the nurse paused, clearing his throat again and frowning at him meaningfully. "It is up to the two of you, of course, but it would be easier for her if whatever is holding her back were... removed. It's past her time to go."
He hadn't understood at first, but soon after returning home with her the truth behind the nurse's words hit with such force he vomited upon the bedroom floor. He was what had been holding her back this whole time - he was what was keeping her from passing on, clinging desperately to a life she would find greater solitude in not living.
That night he bought the first train ticket out of town he could find.

He blinked open his eyes and crouched slowly, scooping the tiny pink mitten from the snow before returning to an upright position. Her gaze followed his movement and she wiped her nose on her sleeve, a sob shaking her tiny figure.
"I can’t let you leave me. I don’t know what I would do without you."
"I'm leaving no matter how much you plead. I have to," he snapped, cracking under the suffocating emotions.
"Please don’t. I cannot survive without you because you are my very life! I need you to continue on. Without you I am nothing."
"Don’t talk like that."
She studied him sadly, her tear-streaked face a contorted well of hurt. "It's true. You know it is."
He said nothing. Of course it was true - it was as true and real as the ticket he clasped in his hand and the mess of a woman he would be leaving behind.
She heard his silence and took a step nearer to him, her shoulders slumped in defeat. "I love you."
"I know. I love you too; it's because I love you that I am going away. I pray that you will come to understand my motivations - and if not to understand, to at least accept. If you were to live in pain because of me I could never forgive myself. We will meet again someday... it may not be in this world or in this life, but we will meet again. There is no God cruel enough to deny us each other."  He took her hand in his once more and kissed it delicately, cherishing the numbing sensation of ice on his bleeding lip. "Goodbye, my love." Gently he pulled the forgotten mitten over her freezing fingers.
"Goodbye." Tears filled her eyes once more and her hand lingered in his till he released it.
She watched him trudge through the snow until the white backdrop swallowed him whole, leaving her with nothing left in the world but two pink mittens and a coat three sizes too big.
It was time, she knew, to let go.

Author's Note

It's rather sappy, I know. I apologize.
This was an entry written for a gaiaonline writing contest hosted by mythological irony. It won first place in said contest.

Reviews

[Cal Vance]

wow so strong,you are agreat writer hun!!
and you are so pretty!!!

[Tyler James]

This was amazing and at only fourteen, its scary to imagine how good you could become!

[MrJodie]

Don't apologize for sappy. Don't apologize for this story for any reason. I may have to send you a self addressed stamped envelope so that you can return the heart you just ripped from my chest. OY!

It's difficult to critique something this beautiful. It's very well written. It could stand a tiny bit of polish. Just a few sentences refined to be more clear and possibly a few typos corrected. Otherwise, absolutely brilliant.

I look forward to seeing you break through that "barrier" you mentioned in your description. You really should write a LOT more. Keep it up!

[Vatsayayana]

Sappy?
Oh no my dear. This is powerful, riveting and breathtakingly beautiful.
You've shown such a depth of understanding. For one to leave the one they love, just so the other can pass on to the next life. You've given me shivers from start to finish. Tears welling in my eyes.
This is exquisitely beautiful.
You've shown such insight into this. Such knowledge.
You've left me shaken, truly shaken.
Beautiful my dear. Simply beautiful.
Brava!

[Shannon]

I remember this! I left a comment on it at kville, but I can't remember exactly what I wrote =X So I'll just leave a new one :D

I loved this :] The description is amazing, and you really manage to capture the emotions; I managed not to cry, but my eyes were watery at the end. You fully deserved to win that first prize place! ^_^

[Roy E Watson]

The range of emotions that I felt while reading this was incredible! The best short I have read, and my goosebumps are finally starting to subside. Please continue to write, and I hope for a novel in the future.

[An owl on the moon]

Absolutely stunning! (You deserved to win!) I can only hope you want to write more than just part time. In just 1,341 words you created two unforgettable characters. You're brilliant!