The city was coming alive with the joy of Christmas. Decorations were being hung. People were bustling from store to store in search of that perfect gift that would clearly express how much they cared for someone special in their lives.
The holiday season is a time of joy and togetherness for most. For some however it can be a lonely reminder of how life has left them with very little to celebrate. However when the light fades from the city and the Christmas lights are glittering against the muddy slush of melting snow, the city still belongs to the lonely. In the shadows of night the holiday season cannot hide the truth about life. Not everyone is full of happiness. Couples squabble after having too many drinks. People struggling just to pay the bills trudging through the snow after working double shifts.

One woman in particular is faced with the absence of family and loved ones. Annie was happy to be free of an abusive marriage, but it was still hard to see the season filling the city around her, without it inspiring any warmth in her own heart. She was ready to celebrate yet another Christmas all alone in her small untidy apartment. Annie did not bother to keep it neat as she never had visitors. She did not hang decorations because they would only be for her to see. There was no extra money for such frivolities, anyway. Annie's life was full of struggle, but it was a struggle she was comfortable with. If she ever got lost in feeling sorry for herself, she would remind herself of how much worse it could be. In Annie's experience sometimes it is much better to be alone than to risk the harm that could come from trusting and loving the wrong person. She had given everything she had within her to the wrong man, and no matter how lonely her nights might be, she was determined never to make that mistake again.

As careful as she was, keeping herself isolated from others, always keeping her head down as she walked, she did not expect that anything extraordinary could impact her life. She was okay with the idea of muddling through without the excitement or fulfillment of a loving relationship. What Annie could never have expected was fate deciding to set her life on an entirely different course than she had planned.

One walk through the snow led to a life changing chance meeting with an old friend. He reminds Annie of all she had once been, but she is certain she is not that person anymore, and could never be again. Annie believes she is in control of her life, but she may be forced to learn that there are more powerful forces than a wounded heart, like love's desire to heal.

Annie is proof that just when you think life is all out of miracles, everything can change because of one chance meeting. Has Annie been too hurt in the past to risk opening her heart to another man? Will she let another Christmas season slip past without anyone to share it with? Settle in for a heartwarming tale of renewed romance, and one woman's journey from a life of isolation to a life full of love.

Snowdrift Strangers: Christmas Romance Short Story - heftet, Engelsk, 2017