The Winter of 1979

Every winter in New York was cold and bitter, but his year, it was not just thundering storms and howling snow; it was a cull of the poor. Each omen of an approaching storm meant a gamble, a gamble for our lives. However, not everybody lived in fear of such a gamble, because it was only the poor, like me, that had to worry about it. Like the reaper itself, no materialistic walls or bed sheets could protect us from its freezing touch. We did not have heaters, nor the money to afford it and the government had other “priorities”, at least that’s how they put it.  For us who lived in the rundown abandoned chapel, the winter of 1979 was only beginning.

“There will be a storm tonight,” Eldwin proclaimed in front of us. He was the leader of our group which consisted of me and nine other members. We started with twenty five, but as the winter progressed, we only ended up with nine. And as we reached the peak of coldness, the last challenge was the hardest. However we were the lucky ones to have claimed the chapel first which was quite spacious, but the extra area carried nothing but chilling air.

We started to head out to scavenge the city. What people would leave in the garbage bins was only a delight to our finding. However even the food others that others have thrown away are not free to take. There are competitors. As shameful as it may sound, even we, the people who could have fallen no lower in the social hierarchy had competitors. And in the live or die winter this year, each piece of food no matter how stale or smelly it was, was precious for survival.

The nine of us divided the city into sections as we each took our respective route to the garbage bins. As I approached the bin, my heart tingled with the hope that there might be a big find. Indeed, nothing was certain, there may be a complete meal that someone left or there may be absolutely nothing but inedible materials. I grabbed on to the edge of the canister and looked inside. There was half a hotdog. I slowly retracted my body over the edge and stuffed the cold remains into my pocket. The omens of the approaching storm were apparent: dark clouds mustered over the city. Throughout the day, I checked through numerous canisters but only few held rewards. On my way back, the drops of rain quickly dotted the asphalt streets. The metallic air swept through my coat as my whole body trembled. Then the howling wind blew through the streets. I was the only one on it. I tried my best to muster up what strength that was left as I trudged slowly to the chapel.

Finally I reached my destination. I entered through the wooden doors and quickly shut them behind me. Eldwin had already set up the fire as six members had already returned. However little did I know that I was the last of the members to return that day. As we piled what food we had, I saw each member trembling to the cold. Little did I know that I too was trembling, but it happened everyday it felt normal now. The wind blew furiously as the doors shook in its presence. As we all hoped that the door would hold, the first strike of cackling thunder hit the ground.

My heart sunk. The first thunder was quickly followed by other raging bolts of lightning. The rain poured down onto the roof which seemed to as if it could collapse any moment. The moon was no where to be seen and the only light was the slowly dying fire. We all gathered around a small corner as we huddled together to preserve what heat was left in our trembling bodies. No one could sleep, even if we tried, there was no way when our lives were on the line. The rain continued and so did the relentless wind as they continued to come endlessly.

Then as all hope was lost, the rain and wind lightened. Our hearts reemerged from with hope. But then, through a hole in the roof, the first drifting piece of white snow landed in front of my eyes as I stared in horror. The white reaper was coming.

Hours later, the howling wind returned, and what seemed like gentle snow was now pounding on chapel from all sides. As we all gathered tighter, each one of us knew that this may be our last stance. Multiple bolts of thunder soared through the sky to the earth. The wind raged as the snow slowly turned to ice pellets that barraged the windows. The roof on the opposite side slowly bent down and multiple windows were now decimated by the anger of mother nature. Then with the deep cringing sound, the roof on the opposite corner collapsed and we were now completely vulnerable to the reaper. The assaulting wind almost pinned us to what walls remained of the chapel. The white snow slowly but evidently crept near us as the temperature dropped even lower and lower.    

We now accepted our destined fate of demise. But Eldwin was still hoping, that maybe even if one us could survive this treacherous night. And it was decided, that I would be the one if any. As we slowly changed our formation, I was moved into the heart of the group. To my objections, all the other members agreed because I was the youngest. A drop of tear slid down my face, before everything went dark.

When I opened my eyes, I looked around. The whole chapel was covered in a layer of pure white snow. As I looked around, even the distant horizons were covered in a layer of snow. So quiet, so peaceful. Even the sun slowly showed itself behind the retreating clouds. And the glowing warmth hit my face as I looked into a future of hope.

But then, the sun sawed through the tear which was frozen on my face. As I felt the droplet run down my cheek, a sudden revelation struck as I turned around to find what this hope had cost.