What Pegman Saw – Winter Took Him

This is my second story for this week’s “What Pegman Saw”. I’m sorry if that’s greedy, but this story kept recurring in my thoughts until I was forced to go and write it!

WPS - Winter took him 180324

Winter took him

Fall was ending and there were few leaves on the trees, barely an echo of their fiery September glory. Robert entered the park on foot, his life on his back – camping gear, food, and a precious plastic container.

He bivouacked overnight. His nostrils prickled with the pungent smoke of the fire he lit for warmth, for company and for protection. He heard wolves howl as they welcomed the winter. Memories gnawed him.

Next day he walked one last time between the forest and the plain. He felt Jenny very close to him as he visited their special places. Then, as the day fled, he went to the foot of the cliff where she’d fallen. He took out the plastic container holding her ashes, scattered them and lay down. Beautiful flakes of snow began to fall, more and more heavily, a pure white blanket to comfort his grief.

Winter took him.

25 thoughts on “What Pegman Saw – Winter Took Him”

  1. Those are the best stories, aren’t they? The ones that nag us and won’t go away until we tell them. And this is such a powerful one too. Your prose is vivid and evocative. It truly takes me there. So, too, the nostalgia and loss permeate every carefully chosen word. Loved this piece.

    Liked by 2 people

    • Dear Karen
      Thank you for reading and commenting so generously. I’m delighted you loved the story. And, yes, the stories that demand to be told are the best, because they force you to polish and polish until it’s right.
      With very best wishes
      Penny

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  9. I have to echo what others have said – such carefully chosen descriptions, such a sad, aching, lovely story and the resonance between the falling ashes and the falling snow, the significance of the end of autumn and the coming winter to the end of his own life, that full circle of him returning to the spot she died in as the wolves howl … So much in so few words. A gorgeous, intimate, epic tragedy

    Liked by 1 person

    • Dear Lynn
      Thank you for reading and for the lovely comments. Thank you, too, for the inspiration to write it. In your three line tale about Doug, you used landscape to mirror internal emotion. I consciously tried to copy the way you did that, and it seems to have worked. I get an enormous amount of pleasure from your stories, and I’m also learning from them. Thank you, Lynn!
      With very best wishes
      Penny

      Liked by 1 person

      • Ah, thank you Penny, but I’ll take no credit for that – this lovely thing is entirely yours. I love reading your stories too and it’s so nice to share a love of words, of creating a setting and emotions. Best wishes to you too, Penny

        Liked by 1 person

    • Dear Kelvin
      What lovely comments! Thank you so much.
      I can claim no credit for the picture, which is one of Pixabay’s freebies. It’s so exactly what the story needs, isn’t it?
      I’m glad you enjoyed the story so much. There was conscious technique in trying to mirror emotions in landscape, but most of the story came from somewhere very deep inside me, I think.
      With very best wishes
      Penny

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