Here's a partial shot of The Bird's Nest in the snow. |
Here's a little piece the impending snow storm inspired me to write:
Anna
shuffled along the snowy sidewalk. Her progress was slow, but this
trek was critical. She steeled herself against the freezing wind,
pulling her wool cap down over her ears and her parka a little
tighter around her body. She mumbled as she shuffled along, about how
stupid she was to allow her supplies of toilet paper and coffee to
dwindle down to nothing. This never would have happened if Jack were
still alive. Anna had always kept the pantry stocked and fridge full,
for him. Somehow, living alone, made her incapable of focusing on the
necessities, until they were all gone.
As she
pressed along to the commissary, thoughts of Jack and pangs of grief
consumed her. He was never far from her mind but going to the store
brought back so many memories. And with those memories, came the
pain. Pain so immediate and sharp it stole the breathe right from her
body. Loss was merciless. It ripped out your heart and left nothing
behind but a raw, gaping hole. A hole that could never be filled, a
rip that could never be mended. Anna was grateful for her memories though.
Because memories, regardless of how they stung, were the only pieces
of Jack loss couldn't rip away.
Ah,
Jack... Jack, Jack, Jack. Anna shook her head and smirked at the
thought of what an amazing character her husband was. He would turn
the most mundane tasks, even stupid trips like this to the food
store, into a romantic adventure. The best she could hope for these
days was to get in and out of there as fast as possible, and hope
like hell she didn't attract the attention of anyone she knew in the
process. The building's automatic doors swished open and a welcome
wave of heat hit Anna.
“Evening Mam. Sure is cold out there.” She flashed her military
id and mumbled some sort of acknowledgment at the greeter, but
didn't stop moving or make any eye contact. Anna couldn't bare to
look up and see if he was some random kid being polite or confirm
that he was one of the young Marines who had known her husband. Many
who served under his command had been reassigned or had moved
on. If she were smart, Anna would have moved on from this cold,
remote base too. But for some reason, she just couldn't bring herself
to.
She
had planned to make her way through the produce isle quickly, but
Anna stopped short when she saw the pineapples. Picking up what
had to be the saddest looking pineapple on the planet, she inhaled
the scent of the tropical fruit and about a dozen memories flooded
her mind .
Man,
did her husband love fresh pineapple. They passed so many warm, happy
days eating it too, while stationed in Hawaii. Anna pictured Jack, with
that goofy grin on his face, stuffing pineapple after pineapple in
his gob, juice dripping down his fingers. None of the pineapples
stateside could ever compare. Sighing, Anna replaced the fruit and
turned to move on. The pineapple had other ideas.
The
fruit slid, and caused an avalanche. Who knew one rogue pineapple
could cause the entire display to come crashing down? Everyone in the
store turned to look in her direction. Anna bent down and slowly
started to pick up all of the pieces, feeling very much like the
broken fruit at her feet.