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Alex and Melissa

Snow Micro Challenge Entry

By Paul StewartPublished 2 years ago 1 min read

Glittering frozen paradise, surrounded by the harsh reality and beautiful ethereal nature of the elements. Snow-covered houses stand in a row like pristine palaces. It's easy to get caught up in the unfiltered beauty. Until you have to scrape at the windshield of your car and shovel a driveway out of the snow.

That's what Melissa thought, every year. She felt a pang of regret messing up the perfect white blanket, but needs must.

In a funny way, she enjoyed the peacefulness of it. It was chance to enjoy a bit of calm before her shift.It also gave her a chance to spend time with Alex. He had a smile and demeanor that calmed Melissa. They had known each other since Alex moved in two years ago.

During the pandemic...they became friends and spent many evenings over the garden fence and mornings at their doors exchanging gripes, moans and jibes about each other's attempts at banana bread and Zoom mishaps.

There had always been chemistry...but both had been burned badly in the past by relationships. Even when restrictions were no longer in place, Melissa and Alex maintained their electrically-charged relationship with the garden fence between them.

Until that morning.

When Alex stepped out of his house, looking like he was going on an expedition to Antarctica, and caught sight of Melissa, shovelling at snow, her long brown curls standing out against all the white. He knew today would be different.

"Yes" was her reply to his simple question of "Dinner?"

LoveMicrofictionShort StoryClassical

About the Creator

Paul Stewart

Award-Winning Writer, Poet, Scottish-Italian, Subversive.

The Accidental Poet - Poetry Collection out now!

Streams and Scratches in My Mind coming soon!

Reader insights

Outstanding

Excellent work. Looking forward to reading more!

Top insights

  1. Compelling and original writing

    Creative use of language & vocab

  2. Easy to read and follow

    Well-structured & engaging content

  3. Heartfelt and relatable

    The story invoked strong personal emotions

  1. On-point and relevant

    Writing reflected the title & theme

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Comments (13)

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  • Kristen Balyeat2 years ago

    Hey Hey Pal! What a great little romance! Love the build-up and the sweetness of this story!

  • Heather Hubler2 years ago

    Aww!! I was so nervous that your twist was going to be horror-style that I think I actually sighed out loud at the happy ending :) Lovely work.

  • Shirley Belk2 years ago

    Perfect! Love a good Valentines story

  • 𝐑𝐌𝐒2 years ago

    . . . and then he flung a shovel full of snow upon her and yelled, "Snow Cones for Dinner!" No? I love your descriptions, Paul. This is beautifully written!

  • John Cox2 years ago

    Lovely story. Sweet and romantic, like a fresh snowfall.

  • Awww, hehehehehhee, this made me blush and feel butterflies in my tummy! 🙈🙈🙈🥰🥰🥰

  • JBaz2 years ago

    Young love, nerves and learning to reead signs. You brought a history to this before you ran with the main story line and it worked beautifully.

  • Oooo, where will they go, what will they eat, will he appreciate it if she orders more than a salad (of course he will, they're already friends & she's great!)?

  • Liam Storm2 years ago

    A lonely story told so delicately! A lovely read that just flowed off the screen! I love checking out what others have submitted to the snow micro challenge, if you get the chance to check my submission out I would greatly appreciate it!

  • Hannah Moore2 years ago

    You never know what you're going to get with you...I like it!

  • Bren2 years ago

    Quiet, unassuming and simply lovely! Cheers to Alex Melissa!

  • Rachel Deeming2 years ago

    You achieved it - gentle romance! Nice one, Paul.

  • Author's Notes: I wanted something happy. Wanted to try something romantic...slice of life...gentle.

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