Footprints in the Snow

A Story by Kate Rivet

Heroine is trying to move on from the tragic loss of her boyfriend but she finds that even she can't do that herself

It was just a normal day, beautiful in fact. The late autumn sunshine hit the trees causing them to glow, illuminating the orange and yellow leaves. I love being outside this time of year, in the nice cool weather. It would be even nicer if I wasn't here, at Taylor's grave. I guess for a graveyard, it was pretty peaceful. Normally I get uneasy because well let's face it, there are a lot of dead people here. However I feel at ease here next to his grave. Maybe knowing that he passed away peacefully helps. "I'll be watching you, so when I look down, give me a reason to smile everyday," his last words echo as I feel a tear roll down my cheek. I crouched down and rested my hand on the top of Taylor's grave. Gritting my teeth, I whispered, "how am I suppose to smile when you're gone? I'm not even over you."
Later that day, I returned to the clubhouse and found everyone waiting for me. "Hey, there you are! We were talking about going to visit Taylor's grave later today," Kate said as I closed the door.
"I can't, Dr. Milda wants me to check in this afternoon," I said heading over to the fridge to get a drink.
"We can wait," John said.
"Nah, it'll take a longer than usual. She's doing some blood tests," I fibbed.
"Um, okay. Are you sure?" Kate asked.
"Yeah I'm sure."
"Oh yeah, remember the time when she wanted to stay in and watch tv all day?" Julia asked.
"Oh yeah! Taylor picked her up, swung her over his shoulder and walked off with her!" Dale laughed. We all burst out laughing and I looked away as I felt myself beginning to cry again. Wiping the tears away, I quickly weaved through them and opened the door, "see you guys later," I said and then I was off. I took towards the tree house.

Jack's view....
"Hey, there you are! We were talking about going to visit Taylor's grave later today," Kate said as she closed the door. We had spent the whole day looking for her. I knew where she was though. She was at his grave. I haven't known her that long but I knew where she was. I had volunteered to go there to look for her and watched her as she cried next to Taylor's grave. I heard that they were really close, her closest friend. I remember sitting class that day and hearing that Taylor Stevens had died. The details were even worse. From what the report said, she was waiting for him and when he didn't show, she went looking for him. She found him but then he was hit by a car. Taylor stumbled out of his truck and collapsed in her arms. He whispered something to her and died right there in her arms.
"I can't, Dr. Milda wants me to check in this afternoon," she said going into the kitchen.
"We can wait," John said.
"Nah, it'll take a longer than usual. She's doing some blood tests," She explained I immediately caught on to the lie.
"Um, okay. Are you sure?" Kate asked.
"Yeah I'm sure."
"Oh yeah, remember the time when she wanted to stay in and watch tv all day?" Julia asked.
"Oh yeah! Taylor picked her up, swung her over his shoulder and walked off with her!" Dale laughed. We all laughed and I looked over at her. When the laughing ceased, she headed towards the door and said "see you guys later," then she left.
"Shall we go?" Kate asked.
"I'm going to stay here and make sure her checkup goes well," I said.
"Okay, if anything happens call us right away," John said grabbing his keys.
"Will do," I said playfully saluting. They all left and not long after that, I headed out too. She didn't have a checkup today. She must've forgotten she told me that. She's probably in her tree house. When we were all laughing, I caught it. I saw the tears. She thought no one was looking but I saw her crying.
I ran across campus to the forest where her tree house is. She designed the tree house herself creating it to be like a mini clubhouse. There is a stairway wrapping around the tree but the door is normally locked. So you have to climb a rope ladder to get to the top and then on the other side there is a long metal pole that you can slide down. At the bottom is a trampoline so you have a soft landing. Then surrounding the tree and the small creek around it is a glass gate.
Running up to the gate, I quickly opened the door and paused. Looking up, I saw that there was no light on and the hatch was still locked for the stairs. Looks like, I'll be climbing the ladder.
After a long grueling climb, I finally reached the top. I pulled myself up and cautiously entered the tree house. She wasn't on the first floor so I went up the stairs and found her on the second floor, sitting on the floor in front of her bookshelf holding a picture of her and Taylor. She was alarmed by the sudden sounds of footsteps and looked my way.
"Oh Jack, I didn't see you," she said putting the picture back and standing up. I knew nothing I could say would make her feel better so I just walked over to her and hugged her. She just needs someone to be with her while she cries. As we stood there, I wonder what Taylor would've done in this situation.
We slowly sat down and I held her in my arms as she cried. I began to feel tears of my own. "Odd," I thought aloud, "I didn't even know him and yet I'm crying." I felt my tear being wiped away and looked down. She was looking up at me smiling with her hand on my cheek. Through the tears, I smiled back, put my hand on the back of her had and pressed her against my chest. I could feel it, someone smiling down on us.
We sat there for a couple more minutes and then I had an idea. I grabbed her shoulders and pulled her away from me. "I'll be right back," I said getting up. I hate to leave her but I'm pretty sure I can cheer her up.
"Okay," she said wiping her eyes.
"Unlock the hatch," I said walking over to the firemen's pole.
"I'll do that now," she said heading over to the door.
"I'll be back I promise. Just wait," I said. She nodded her head in understanding and I slid down the pole. Landing on the trampoline, I somersaulted off and ran towards the main campus.

Heroine's view...
I guess I feel a little bit better. Jack really surprised me. The last time I saw a boy cry was when I saved Taylor. I glanced back at the picture of me and him and thought if he were still around I think Taylor would like Jack. They are quite similar but that may just be me looking for a replacement.
About and hour later Jack still wasn't back. He probably got sidetracked and forgot. "Oh well," I sighed as I sat down outside. I let my feet dangle down and felt the cool breeze flow through my hair. This is the way it is. I'm used to being forgotten and left behind. Being alone has become daily once again. I almost forgot what it felt like.

There are two types of people in the world, me and everyone else. I never quite understood how people could connect right away. For me, it would take a long time to warm up to someone. Most people gave up and moved on, leaving me to just watching everyone else. However when Taylor came, I could sense it, he was lonely, tired of watching, just like me. Now that he's gone it feels as though part of me is too. Maybe time will heal that.
I reached over to the hatch to close and lock it but I stopped right before I was going to touch it. I had a feeling he would be back. I just did. The way he said he'd be back, it wasn't in the kind of tone that he took lightly. Smiling, I got back up and went inside.
A couple minutes later, I heard the gate open. I ran out and saw that it was Jack. When he saw me leaning over the rail he shouted, "go back inside."
"Why?" I called down.
"It's a surprise!"
"Okay," I said wondering what the surprise could be. So I went back inside and sat down on the couch. Not a moment later, Jack walked through the doorway carrying three bags. One said my favorite takeout place on it. He set the bags down on the table and motioned me over. I sat down followed by Jack.
"Alright, since it's getting close to dinner time, I decided to pick up some food for us," Jack said smiling. I was surprised, it was nice just to see that he came back. Then he added,"so I got you a fettuccine alfredo, two bread sticks, and a slice of pizza with some diet tea. Then for dessert I stopped by the bakery and got some eclairs. Sorry I took so long, the lines were out the door," Jack said pulling things out of the bag. It all smelled so good.
"Jack, I don't know what to say," I said looking at the food.
"Then just eat," he laughed.
"What did you get?" I asked as he kept pulling food out of the bags.
"Oh I got some spaghetti, bread sticks, and a salad. I also got eclairs, two for me and four for you."
"Smart. Hold on, how'd you know what I would want?" I asked realizing I never told Jack what I liked to eat.
"I used to work there and I remember you coming in with Taylor. Of course I didn't know who you two were but I recognized you," Jack explained.
"Good observation," I said. So we ate and talked.
After we got done eating, I walked outside. There was a gentle breeze and I could feel someone smiling at me. I turned around and saw that Jack was still cleaning up so it couldn't have been him. My gaze returned back to the sky where the sun was setting. I felt as though I had finally let go of something. Like a heavy burden of mourning. Maybe, just maybe, I found someone special like Taylor. I looked back in and smiled at Jack. He didn't see me but I was grateful. For a while I had lost my reason to live but he stuck by me and helped me through all of it.
I guess death is kind of like a storm, it can be very dark, messy, and scary. In the end when all the clouds clear and the sun comes back out, it truly is peaceful and has a certain beauty to it.
Sometimes it's good to stop and look back. See how far you've come and remember all the good times when we laughed until we ran out of breath and the sad times where we cried until we had nothing left to cry about. However we need to keep moving and even when those memories become distant we will still see the beauty when we look back.
"Goodbye Taylor," I whispered into the wind. There was a slight gust and in my ear echoed the word, "goodbye," but this time with a trace of his voice. I looked up in the sky and I swear to this day that I saw Taylor Stevens' smiling face looking down at me.
"I'll do my best, just you wait, you'll be smiling so much it'll hurt."

I let the warm breath escape from my lips and watched it turn into a white cloud. Looking back, I saw two sets of footprints in the deep snow. Both sets lead up to where I am now. If I kept moving, there would only be one set, once again. I'm all alone. I could have gone with the main path along with all my other friends but too many people have took that path. The snow was all beaten down so you'd hardly get noticed, just fade away into society. I find it more fun to create your own path rather than follow someone else's. There's a certain satisfaction to making new footprints in freshly fallen snow.
I looked over and there was a rock with his name on it. I stayed here a long time hoping Taylor would come back to me but I knew that couldn't happen. He's gone for good. I'm afraid if I keep walking, I'll lose sight of his footprints.
Just then, I noticed another set of footprints not too far away. I ran ahead and saw the footprints leading from off the trail. I turned a corner and saw Jack sitting on a bench. He saw me and stood up smiling.
"I didn't know Taylor at all," Jack started as I ran up to him, "but he left me, a guy he didn't even know, a note about you. He said you were special and told me to never leave you alone because you don't deserve that. At first I didn't get it but as I got to know you I began to understand. I didn't know him so why should I be doing this? I asked myself that everyday but every time I asked that, I couldn't bring myself to leave you behind. I didn't do this just because of the note though. It broke the ice but you kept drawing me back. You're are truly one of a kind and I like to be around you. I understand that you like to be alone sometimes and I'm like that too, so when you want to walk alone, I'll go on ahead and wait for you. If there are times where you feel like you don't have the strength to walk any more, I'll carry you, just long enough for you to find your strength again. No one should ever go through life alone and I'll stay with you, I promise."
"Jack," his name slipped out. I didn't what to say, over and over he kept surprising me.
"If your worried about forgetting about Taylor don't be. Not only did he give you memories but he helped you become their person that you are now. Before you met him, your footprints were shallow and small. Now look at them, deeper and bigger. He changed you and you will always see that when you look back," Jack hugged me and added, "let's move forward together. I'll be your strength and you will be mine."
"Alright," I said feeling renewed with energy, "let's go, together." I found my purpose, no, Jack helped me find my purpose in life again. He helped me get my strength back.
Moving forward, together, I like the sound of that. We began walking and I hesitantly reached out for his hand.

© 2016 Kate Rivet

Author's Note

It's a fact that everyone walks the path of life, however you are the one who chooses which one. Don't take the path that many people have already taken, there are so many footprints already you would hardly get noticed. Create your own path because then your footprints will truly be unique.

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Reviews

Coyote Poetry

Great conversation in the story. I read twice for the strong thoughts and description.
"I guess death is kind of like a storm, it can be very dark, messy, and scary. In the end when all the clouds clear and the sun comes back out, it truly is peaceful and has a certain beauty to it."
The above lines caught my attention and are a very good statement. Thank you Kate for sharing the amazing story.
Coyote