Tears traced down her face as she stared out at the cold winter wonderland in her front yard.
Snowflakes fell, like they did every year on Christmas Eve, covering the neighborhood in white. The noises in her head were quiet, as if they knew this was her time.
    The only time.
On her hand she wore a ring, a ring she once wore as a promise to him.
    But he had betrayed her in the end, and wasn't he wearing a ring, the same ring?
This was the only time she ever cried, ever.
    On Christmas Eve.
The night three years ago he left... leaving her alone with her fear, her pain... her heart.
    Staring down at the ring on her right hand, she wondered why she still wore it. There was no legal contract, nothing that said they were married.
It was just a promise ring....
    ...And weren't promises made to be broken?


    She sat on top of the children's slide, staring the three feet down at the bark below. Hauntingly silent, the empty playground reminded her of...
No. She wouldn't think of him.
    Not today.

    Her silence was intriguing him, the way she seemed lost in staring at the ground, sitting on the small children's slide. Her black hair blew across her face with the autumn breeze.
Gently, quiet as a whisper, he took out his camera, and.... *click*.

    She looked up, startled by the sound of the shutter clicking, stunned to see a boy.
He blushed, rubbing the back of his neck.
    "Uh, hi," He smiled.
She just stared at him, trying to figure out why he was there.
    "I'm just leaving," She said, softly, climbing down the slide and turning from him.
"Hey, are you okay?" He asked, grabbing her wrist.
    Her mind jolted, raced... and the noises came back.
She groaned inwardly.
    "Please let go of me," She muttered, shaking his grip off and walking away, as fast as she could.
"Wait!"
    She didn't stop.
The noises in her head were so loud now... she could barely hear the crunch of her footsteps against the frozen path as she ran.
    She hoped he would go away.
She hoped he would stop following her.
    Running after her.
Because there was only one person who was supposed to run after her, and he was gone.
    He had run away.