Christmas Card 1- Tree

It was cold. It was cold and dark. Each day was shorter than the last. Yesterday, the Sun made the briefest of appearances before disappearing. Today, it hadn’t appeared at all. He had lived through seventy-three Winters and the seventy-fourth was harder than the worst of them. He hadn’t been able to face eating yesterday. There was little enough food for them all anyway. And he couldn’t sleep – not in this constant night. Not in this crowded, huddled place. He went outside. The others were either asleep or pretending. No-one stopped him. He walked a way into the woods, into the snow-muffled space. He sat with his back to a tree and closed his eyes.

The next day, the Sun showed itself – just briefy, but it showed itself.

Christmas cards