Tea and Prose
Do summer friends melt away like summer snows, but winter friends last forever, as an old saying goes?
Farewell fair weather friends! Meanwhile I’m all bundled up in my furry throw, engrossed in a book called Winterlust: Finding Beauty in the Fiercest Season by Bernd Brunner from which I borrowed this quote.
Winter is here, I’m telling myself not get cold feet by worrying too much about cold feet, and instead embrace the beauty of winter.
Day 12 Inktober : Stuck
When he was a kid he was never allowed to play in snow. After many many years when it started to snow he hopped, skipped and jumped in excitement. He wanted to know what it feels like to eat some snow. So he walked on the streets with his mouth wide open. In a frenzy when he came across a pole which read taste of winter, like a fool he licked it and got his tongue stuck on the pole. He froze for a second, unable to move, the chills ran deep inside his body but when he got his tongue moving he laughed out loud and decided to do it once again.
A cold denial, filled with feelings of remorse.
Serving warm bowls of soup for cold hearts.
It was a phase,
When the little girl loved snowflakes.
Nose pressed to the window pane,
She spent hours gazing at swirling flurries,
Gently breezing through the skies,
Softly and quietly covering the world in white.
Now that phase has passed,
Her tiny flakes of joy are lost,
The girl has turned cold as frost.
She finds the snow miserable and utterly cold.
“A dazzling waste of time!”
As she pulls down the window blinds,
A snowflake silently glides
Rekindling the light in her eyes.
Drooping low,
With all that snow.
Hang in there, leaves!
In this cold and miserable weather, all she wants to do is curl up inside a blanket and read books all day long. She makes a warm bowl of cream and mushroom soup and cups her palms around it. She dreads the winter.
Every year she feels she will get used to the cold, but every year she ends up saying, “I can’t do this anymore!” The uncomfortable feeling of cold hands and feet make her sad. At present, she is wearing three layers of clothing inside her home. A pink slip with a black T-shirt and a striped sweatshirt. A pair of unicorn printed fleece pants, a beanie, thermal socks, and yet her nose is cold as snow.
Sometimes, she looks at her neighbours, diligently taking their dogs for walks in the snow and feels sad. She feels sad for not being active like the others, for not having the courage to step out every single day. Sometimes with great effort, she goes out once in a week to shop for groceries. Due to COVID-19, she has to work from home and hardly meets any of her family and friends. So, she always ends up feeling lonely and low.
One day, an unexpected visitor shows up at her door. She fixes her curly hair, straightens her glasses and opens the door. At first, she finds nobody but when she looks down, there is a Mr. Pussycat looking up at her.
“Where did you come from?”, she asks surprisedly.
She steps outside and looks around but finds nobody on the street. Since, she cannot not leave him alone in the bone-chilling cold, she picks him up and brings Mr. Pussycat inside. She opens a can of tuna and watches him lick it all clean. “Poor lil one must have been really hungry!”
Mr. Pussycat turns out to have a friendly and cuddly soul. He jumps onto her lap, snuggles cozily and falls asleep, all the while purring. Stupefied by the cat’s behaviour, the girl wonders if she has a new companion. Both turn out to have similar personalities so it does not take them long to get along with each other. She plays with him, cooks for him, snuggles and watches movies with him. Mr.Pussycat takes up most of her time and the cold no longer plays on her mind. Now, they live happily alone together.
The days turn shorter and darker.
The skies have snuggled inside a grey blanket of clouds.
Trees stand stark naked begging for mercy
With their skeletal hands towards the skies.
The wind continually snores,
When disturbed its shrill howls will make one scamper.
Half-past 4 and the town is deserted,
Silence is all that remains.
Day 24 Inktober – Dig
The mole put on his miner’s hat
To dig some coal
So he could eat warm worms in the cold.
Into Words 