Embracing Change by Debbie Roome

Author:Debbie Roome [Roome, Debbie]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
ISBN: 9781907984310
Publisher: Rose & Crown
Published: 2013-11-09T18:30:00+00:00

Ten minutes later they were on the road heading into the hills. The Isuzu was higher off the ground than Joel’s car and felt more robust as they travelled round corners and over rough sections of road.

“I can’t wait to get into the mountains,” Sarah said, gazing out at the powdered foothills. Here and there she caught glimpses of the Alps, coated in thick snow. “It looks so different to the last time I drove up here.”

“It’s amazing how snow transforms a landscape,” Joel agreed.

As they continued to climb, the whiteness thickened and was soon right down to the edge of the road. “The ploughs have been through here today.” Joel pointed at mounds of snow, banked up along the edges of the road. “They’ve spread grit to give vehicles a better grip in the ice.” He drove slowly and carefully until they reached the turn off to Crystal Falls.

Sarah felt memories washing over her as Joel parked the car; the pain of scattering the ashes and saying a final goodbye to Luke. Joel picked up on her silence. “Are you alright?”

“I will be.”

“I’m coming up with you because the path will be slippery and I don’t want you hurting yourself.” He paused. “But I won’t come up to the waterfall. I won’t disturb your privacy.”

“Thank you, Joel.”

The path was slick, just as Joel had predicted, although there wasn’t that much snow on the ground. Most of it was resting on the canopy of trees above. “Watch out!” he called, as a shower of snow dropped from the branches, splattering them both with icy crystals.

“That was close,” they laughed together.

Twenty minutes later, the tinkling of the waterfall increased to a roar and Joel stopped in a small clearing, unzipping his backpack. “Here’s the cross,” he said, handing it to Sarah. “I’ll wait here. Just shout if you need me.”

She took the cross and held it to her cheek, tears already filling her eyes. “Thank you, Joel, not just for the cross but for everything you’ve done for me.”

She clambered up the last stretch of the path and pushed past some dripping bushes to reach the waterfall.

“Oh, Luke …” She hugged the cross to herself. “Is there anything left here, or is it just memories now?”

The water thundered into the pool, a far greater volume than before, and spray hung like fine mist in the air. For a long moment, anger flared in Sarah’s heart; anger at the unfairness of life, anger at the constant pain that lurked within, anger that she was still struggling. Then she looked down at the cross in her hands. It wasn’t just a memorial to Luke. It was a reminder that someone else cared.

She picked her way round the pool to the spot where she’d scattered the ashes. The mountain rose steeply in front of her, an edifice of grey rock carpeted with thick ferns. After searching for a few minutes, she found the perfect spot for the cross: a hidden nook in the rock, masked by verdant undergrowth and crisscrossed vines.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.