Angie looked down at the broken box of ornaments and sighed. Christmas was not gonna be good unless she decorated and had a small meal. The food pantry had given her a holiday box and she was going to have just enough to have a small Christmas. A couple nice things from the thrift store and it might be ok.
So off she went to the Townsend thrift store in Winter's Pass. The thrift store was unusually empty and Angie grabbed a shopping cart. Her long red hair was dull from using hand soap to wash her hair and Angie went by the personal care and snagged the dollar shampoo and conditioner.
A box of ornaments was 10 dollars and that was it for her shopping trip. Walking home Angie slipped into her studio apartment that she rented from Sheriff Thompson and his wife Nora.
Up a flight of stairs and then slipping into the apartment.
The box of ornaments drew Angie like a treasure chest and she set it down on the table and began rooting through the box. Yarn ornaments, plastic santas, a gingerbread man, and a metal photo album? It was a thick metal and pulling it open Angie paused. A man with dark black hair and no shirt utterly ripped stood in the picture...and his eyes were thickly lashed and shut firmly. Googling it Angie realized it wasn't just a picture but a rather old fashioned icon.
Angie had not been with a man in 2 years since the divorce and dating was out too because of her work schedule and her having to take care of her mother for a year. Winter's Pass was quiet and she had just returned six months ago.
Tomorrow she had work and so Angie went to bed and fell deeply asleep. Waking up she rushed off to work at Genie Shoppe Gas station and her 8 hr shift. When Angie got there everyone was in and out filling their cars with gas because of the impending snow storm. She finally was done and was dead on her feet. The long walk home was not going to be fun.
Walking out she watched as the fat freezing snow flakes began to drop and faster and faster as night approached. The last stretch went out of the town by a tree line and was normally a ten minute walk. Today it seemed interminable as the sky turned to white and the wind picked up. Angie blinked and slipped and fell on the ice. Before she hit the ground from behind she felt firm hands grabbing her and catching her to steady her.
She turned around but there was only the blinding snow and wind. Looking down Angie saw fading footsteps. Determinedly she kept on until she saw the building where she lived and booked it up the stairs. Inside she took a warm shower and collapsed into bed. That night she dreamed of hands catching her in the snow but not on her hips and she felt a hot burning touch on her breasts and a kiss that left her wanting so much more. His hands roamed freely and Angie burnt, wanting his hot breath on her neck and his tongue on her nipples. He whispered not to open her eyes and put a heavy weighted talisman on her eyes.
When Angie woke in the morning she felt cold and alone. Getting up she looked outside and realized that the snow had fallen and was about a foot high blocking her way out.
