The Tides of Winter
Home doesn’t have to be four walls and a door. It doesn’t have to be a pair of arms, a smile, or even a laugh. Honestly, I believe that home, in its most loosely defined nature, can be just about anything, anything evocative; and one cold, Christmas night, ‘home’ became a moment in time.
Something cold stirred me awake and I lifted my head up from the floor. A multitude of shivers rippled through my body, leaving goosebumps along my arms and legs in their wake. I staggered to my feet, swaying a little as I rubbed the sleep from my eyes. “Why is it so cold?” I muttered under my breath, wrapping my arms around myself. I glanced over at the alarm clock situated on the nightstand. The time 2:33 a.m. beamed back at me in a strobe …show more content…
“What do you think you’re doing following me this late at night?”
He scoffed as we let ourselves out into the winter night. “Someone has to make sure you don’t get kidnapped and raped. You know how Vietnamese parents are when it comes to their precious daughters.”
I gave him a look and he simply nudged me in response. As we steered right at the shoreline, I titled my head back and took in the clear, starlit sky overhead. Not a cloud was in sight, just clear, midnight-blue skies dotted with specks of white. The moon and stars seemingly felt closer than they have ever been before, creating this perfect little illusion that if you were to reach out in front of you, you would be able to grasp onto them and hold them between your hands. Despite my knowledge, I reached out anyway and earned a quizzical, but mirthful, look from Jackson when I drew my hand back and pouted in disappointment.
We decided to turn back then, but after an hour or two of walking, we realized we had forgotten to take note of particular landmarks that would help us find our way back to Springhill Suite hotel. Exhausted and frustrated, we plopped down on the sand. A cozy blanket of silence encased Jackson and me once again, and after a while, he broke
Home doesn’t have to be four walls and a door. It doesn’t have to be a pair of arms, a smile, or even a laugh. Honestly, I believe that home, in its most loosely defined nature, can be just about anything, anything evocative; and one cold, Christmas night, ‘home’ became a moment in time.
Something cold stirred me awake and I lifted my head up from the floor. A multitude of shivers rippled through my body, leaving goosebumps along my arms and legs in their wake. I staggered to my feet, swaying a little as I rubbed the sleep from my eyes. “Why is it so cold?” I muttered under my breath, wrapping my arms around myself. I glanced over at the alarm clock situated on the nightstand. The time 2:33 a.m. beamed back at me in a strobe …show more content…
“What do you think you’re doing following me this late at night?”
He scoffed as we let ourselves out into the winter night. “Someone has to make sure you don’t get kidnapped and raped. You know how Vietnamese parents are when it comes to their precious daughters.”
I gave him a look and he simply nudged me in response. As we steered right at the shoreline, I titled my head back and took in the clear, starlit sky overhead. Not a cloud was in sight, just clear, midnight-blue skies dotted with specks of white. The moon and stars seemingly felt closer than they have ever been before, creating this perfect little illusion that if you were to reach out in front of you, you would be able to grasp onto them and hold them between your hands. Despite my knowledge, I reached out anyway and earned a quizzical, but mirthful, look from Jackson when I drew my hand back and pouted in disappointment.
We decided to turn back then, but after an hour or two of walking, we realized we had forgotten to take note of particular landmarks that would help us find our way back to Springhill Suite hotel. Exhausted and frustrated, we plopped down on the sand. A cozy blanket of silence encased Jackson and me once again, and after a while, he broke