One Cold Wintery Day

The man had been staying alone in the wooden cabin to escape from the city. It was far removed from the city and at the edge of forest. It was his first winter in this place. The weather changed gradually with the temperature decreasing by a few degrees every day. The winter was at its peak now. The snowfall was expected anytime now as per the weatherman.

Today was particularly cold day, perhaps the coldest day of the season so far. It was not a day for venturing outside. The man had decided to stay indoors for the day. It had been drizzling throughout the day. The intensity of drizzle had varied and there were times when it could be categorised as rain. The sound of falling rain had been trying to draw him outside, yet he was reluctant to leave the warmth of cosy cabin.

He had lain in the warmth of the bed or stayed curled up in the chair in front of room heater most of the time. He was enjoying the solitude of the place, with the nature and the mystery book he was reading, being his only companions. In-between he walked a few steps in the small cabin to increase blood circulation in his legs.

The darkness comes to forest early. It was not even 6.00 in the evening when darkness enveloped the forest and his cabin. In the stillness of the place, he could hear the wind howling outside. He decided that he must get out of cabin to get some fresh air.

Once outside, he noticed that the drizzle had turned into a light snowfall. He could see snow which looked like fine cotton slowly descending on the earth. Some of it landed on the trees. Perhaps not liking the weight of snow on their bodies, they tried to shake it off with the help of wind. But the snow kept on falling, the more trees tried to shake it off.

The wind blew with greater force, but soon gave up the effort to beat snowfall as the intensity of snowfall increased.

The man stood mesmerised with the scene. From a distance he could hear the howl of wild animals. Although he had heard that there were wolves in the forest, he had not come across any during his walks. He told himself to remember to be careful while going for the walks in the forest. Perhaps it would be a good idea not to go for walks in the forest after sunset.

Only last few pages of the book were left. He returned to the cabin to finish the book. As it happens in most of the mystery novels, the murderer turned out to be someone who was the least suspicious. It was a nice mystery to read in this wintery day.

As his mind drifted to stories of fairies, he wondered if some of them were out in this snow-storm. From the window of his cabin, the snow-clad tree branches swaying with the wind appeared to assume different shapes. They looked like fairies to him.

Far from the usual crowd, the man was enjoying his escapade in the cold wooden cabin.