41 / 145
41
Fresh-Fallen
Snow
Hayley Do
11:58pm
tick… tick… tick…
The rhythmic beats resonate from the relic suspended above the
metal doors, consistency to the point of comfort. Yet how tedious it
must be for Time’s thin red hand; playing a ceaseless game of chase
that’s never won. She’s a strange creature. Unseen and neglected by
most, her presence for those here is conflicting; heavy and confining
yet uncertain and greatly welcomed at the same time. Rows of
interconnected plastic chairs line the ivory walls plastered with
posters and pamphlets warning of just about every illness from A to
Z. Uncomfortable and rigid, they’re fully occupied by the dejected
andbroken. There’s preserved stillness in the room, only occasionally
disrupted by the wails of a small baby or a recent widower. White
peonies arranged on low glass tables fail to disguise the stale smell of
bleach and antiseptic that is wafted at every movement. Night has
taken up residence in the sky, brushing aside the constellations to
make room for the vast circular lantern.
tick… tick… tick…
I remember the last time we were here; I was introduced to you for
the first time. Shrieking as you left the comfort of my womb, your
head burrowed into my bosom seeking warmth as I cradled your
fragile form. You really were a tiny little thing; seven weeks
premature. I still remember you clasping my finger in your tiny fist,
looking up at me with those big chestnut eyes. I made you a promise
that day: I would be by your side forever and always. I guess ‘forever’
isn’t as long as I had thought. Or maybe when you were a child, still
a stranger to the world, everything felt like forever; single moments
would stretch out to the furthest horizons –never-ending. I now
know better.
11.59pm
tick… tick… tick…
There was a time when I held resentment against you. I was young
9