A Letter to the Giftmaker

The golden pink glow of the morning sun made the freshly fallen snow sparkle as the carriage rumbled down the road. The clatter of the horse's hooves was distant inside the plush velvet-lined interior. Edwin gaped once more as he looked around.Harriet had spent an hour the night before thanking Edwin before he was granted the reprieve of them being invited to dinner. They had slept in the guest qu...

Edwin followed Mr. Morris back into the grand foyer. His eyes weren't looking up at the majesty hidden in darkness this time, but instead down at his own worn shoes that shuffled across the marble. He rubbed his hands against the cold fabric of his pant legs as a dozen thoughts flitted across his mind like the snowflakes in the blizzard outside.This was it. All his mistakes—his failure to charge t...

Edwin stared into the dark abyss of the ravine. Beside him, Jo lifted the lantern, though it made no difference as the light did not reach more than a dozen feet out in the blizzard. It was like staring into a cauldron of molasses.Each snowflake that fluttered past made Edwin's heart leap for a moment, thinking the letter had returned, but then it fell back again. He refused to blink as he scanned...

Harriet's throat was tight as she waded through the thick snow. It was above her knee and fresh flakes were falling fast. Her fingers itched to grab the lantern from Jo and control the light herself, but she restrained herself. Instead, she held onto her hat, which threatened to blow off with each gust of wind."We should have found him by now." Her throat was dry and tight, and it hurt to shout ag...

It took Edwin several minutes to realize why everything seemed so much darker. At first he had thought it was just the growing snowstorm blocking out the moonlight, but then he noticed that Jo had abandoned him. That golden light which had been encouraging him from behind had turned around to leave him alone in the woods.Well, if he gives up that easily, Jo is obviously not a true friend, he thoug...

Jo stared at his friend, the orange light from the fallen lantern lighting him from below in a ghoulish, unnatural way. Edwin's mouth hung open and his eyes opened wide. He was frozen as the flakes fell past him. They both stared into the dark woods into which Harriet had run."She... She..." Edwin's mouth opened and shut, but the words were not coming to him.Jo could hear his own heart beating lik...

"No!" Edwin slammed his fists against the metal gate, the pain reverberating through him. "Come back!"His shout was lost in the wind. The tiny, dark shape shuffled up the drive, nearly lost in the distance amongst the ever-increasing snowflakes. After just a moment, it turned a corner and was lost amongst the trees."No! Please!" The metal rang out as he hit it again."Edwin, I..." Harriet placed a ...

Edwin stared down at the small golden circle of light that spread out from him. The light from his lantern reached about ten feet out before fading quickly into darkness. His whole world was those ten feet around him, with curves in the road slowly fading in from gray before disappearing behind him.Jo walked next to him. His footsteps were slightly slower than Edwin's, due to his long legs. Occasi...

Jo stumbled as his foot caught on a ridge of now-frozen mud that was hidden in the darkness. He flung out his arms, wheeling them around frantically before finding his balance. With a sigh, he stood upright."Are you okay?" A few steps ahead, Edwin stopped.Jo nodded. "Just tripped."The light from the lantern was enough to see the edges of the road, but the smaller ridges we lost in the dim light th...

A hazy, milky orange spread across the sky above the snow-tipped pines. Harriet's skin prickled and she could feel a bead of sweat run down her forehead despite the falling temperatures. She kept replaying all the lies in her head, each time burning hot and sick in her stomach.Her ankles burned from her quick pace. She had to stay ahead of Edwin and Jo. If she looked at them, she wouldn't be able ...