Veronica Faust~ an original story

"He was so sweet. After we watched the movie, he held my hand and walked me home. He even asked if he could kiss me. He was so soft, cute, funny..."

"And completely crazy," Veronica adds on. Sharon playfully slaps her best friend and she laughs.

"You've just never experienced love before," she says, with a dreamy look in her eyes. Veronica opens the cap of her tall Starbuck's cup and looks inside. She frowns when she barely finds a drop left.

"Love-shmove. Whatever, Share. I have to go."

"Go ahead. I know you don't want to listen to me ramble on." Veronica stands from her seat and swings her bag over her shoulder.

"That's part of it. I need to check on my mom, though."

Veronica's mother is an unstable alcoholic and is also emotionally depressed. Veronica's job is to make sure her mother stays alive and she's been doing a pretty good job at it-- even if her mother tried to kill herself seven times. According to her mother's hospital records, Veronica's mom has been that way since her husband abandoned her and his unknown child. She's blamed herself for his death and Veronica had to deal with this for her entire life. The only other person who knows about this is Sharon, her life-long best friend.

Sharon nods sympathetically and blows Veronica a kiss farewell. Veronica shoves open the door and walks out into the bitter, winter cold. She wraps her scarf tighter around her neck and flips open her cell phone with her glove covered hand. She dials her house number and waits for someone to pick up.

"Hello?" A voice cracks over the phone. Veronica smiles weakly in relief.

"Hey, mom. It's me. How was your day?"

"Day? What's today... Monday? Tuesday? Wednesday? Friday?"

"Mom, you skipped Thrusday," Veronica notices.

"Oh, that's okay. No one cares about Thursday's anyways. Where are you?"

"I am walking home right now," Veronica mentions and looks to her right. She notices a homeless guy on the ground. He is wearing clothing scraps and one sock with the first toe peeping out. "Mom, I'll see you soon." She shuts off her phone and searches her pockets for loose change. She comes up with about five dollars in cash and a cupon for a free smoothie.

Veronica hands the man what she has. He quickly grabs it from her, but in his other hand lies a knife. Instinctly, she raises her hands to cover her face.

She expects to feel pain. She expects to feel anything besides peace and silence. She removes her hands and opens her tightly shut eyes. The knife is an inch from her face and is frozen. Not only is the knife frozen, but the man and the snow that is surrounding the man is frozen solid. She backs away quickly and looks around. Everyone doesn't even seem to notice what has just happened. Are they blind or is Veronica just imagining it?

She's definitely imagining it. She looks at the man one more time, shakes her head in disbelief, and walks home.