Still gonna go on about this: We are now passing the first month of constant updates! Hopefully anyone who's reading this and has been mentally critiquing stuff has found it to be getting better, as that is the point of my doing this. Get better at stuff, and get faster at it. More the former than the latter, though it'd still be nice to be able to knock out the longer things a bit quicker by practicing it. Though I think I'll always spend half an hour on one sentence, trying to word it just right, while other paragraphs just fly by. I suppose that's just how things are.
As usual, more updates at 8 AM tomorrow, and you can be reminded of such from that one account at the top right that looks like something a cat would be interested in devouring. Besides your mail and the letter f. Cats are weird. Oh, and as always, I'm open to critiques and comment on my work. I'd even say I'm interested to hear what you have to say and/or think of it all. Enjoy!
Warm Night by Mackinley Clevinger, February 17, 2016
“Man, it is really coming down out there…” He turned away from the window, looking in towards a comfortable room lit to a warm glow by a crackling fireplace. “I don’t think we’re going to be able to visit your sister’s, darling.” He could hear a faucet running, his voice not carrying over the sound of water. He shrugged, turning back to the window and the rushing winter set behind its frosted panes, currents of reflected flame coloring the monochrome landscape.
He sighed, the window fogging up before his breath. He didn’t mind being trapped in the cabin for another day – they’d reserved it for the entire weekend – but his sister-in-law was expecting them for dinner, and she was… His mind flicked back to the last dinner he’d attended, and winced as the scene replayed itself. “She is… complicated.” He rested his forehead against the fogged window, a feeling of turmoil in his chest.
He rubbed his hands together, the tips already feeling numb from the cold he was letting in, and grabbed a flashlight set by the door. The cone of light shone on mounds of snow settled against the frozen railing of the porch and a distant mass of white that was once the car, fat flakes falling gently onto the scene before him. He cast the light along the road that they’d taken, only denoted by a slight dip in the sea of white that lay before him.
Shutting the door and breathing hot air onto his fingers, he navigated himself back to the window, unsure of what to do. He doodled on the fogged window with one finger, leaning his other hand on the windowsill as he thought. Was it really unsafe for them to go out, or was he just projecting his own desire to stay at the cabin instead of go to dinner with his extended family? The light cast from the fireplace called to him, promising warmth and a loved one, but there’d been such disappointment after the last family dinner he’d attended, when the dust had settled…
It was important that he try to make amends, he knew that. After the disaster from last time, he owed it to everyone to at least show up tonight. He thunked his head against the frosty glass, mind doubling back on itself over and over again, the thought of them crashing in the middle of a blizzard sending a thrill of fear through him. All he wanted was to enjoy the holiday with the people he loved, why did this storm have to come out of nowhere and screw up their plans?
He sighed. It wasn’t just the storm. He’d been dreading having to leave the cabin since they stepped foot inside of it, every loving embrace and shared moment left in the shadow of their impending departure for a different kind of company entirely. He didn’t dislike them, but they were always so judgmental; the things they said that he just couldn’t brush off as inconsequential…
He looked down at the frosted windowpane, at the image he’d been doodling without realizing it. A tilted heart with a thumb-drawn set of lips inside, the same as the cake they’d had at their wedding. He smiled, remembering the night, his worries receding as he thought of the best time of his life. After the service; after they’d exchanged the rings he hated to ever take off, they’d danced; holding one another into the late hours, grinning like the fools in love that they were.
The sound of the faucet stopped, only the occasional crackling of a log to be heard in that warm, remote cabin. His eyes were locked on the image of the heart, a peaceful expression lying upon his face as his thoughts turned from worry to the love of his life. Behind him a door opened, light spilling out and reflecting off the frosty window, illuminating the heart he’d drawn. A slight shadow slowly grew, placed in the center of the heart as light footsteps creeped up behind him.
“How’s it look out there?” A hand slid onto his hip, head craning over his shoulder to look at the frosted window, the newcomer’s face lighting up. “Isn’t that –“ He turned, kissing his husband on the lips and pulling his arm around him in a full embrace, falling forward to be held as they both sank into the kiss, silent as a heat grew between them. The kiss ended, but they remained in the embrace, looking at one another with unabashed smiles on their faces.
“It’s not looking too good out there, I don’t think we can leave tonight.” His grin grew wider, face blushing slightly. The newcomer tilted his head, looking out the frosted window, the reflected currents of flame drawing his eyes towards the fireplace. He turned back to his husband, a mischievous grin on his face. “It does look pretty bad out there… Looks like we’ll have to spend another night here.” He leaned forward, resting his forehead against his husband’s. “However will we spend the time?”
“Your sister won’t mind that we don’t show up?” His face twisted, not wanting to bring up anything that would stop them having another night together, but unable to pass it by. “I think she’ll find it in her heart to understand that there was nothing we could do to stop this from happening, and there’s no one I’d rather spend tonight with than you.” His face relaxed, relieved, and their lips met again, hands gently holding one another as the fireplace crackled gently and the warmth of the cabin stood strong against the winter storm outside.