Copyright Jade Windchime 2003

  The sky was showing signs of winter. I know, because I have seen it before. It is no longer blue, nor red, nor magenta, not even grey, but a certain colorless drab that smothered the entire biosphere. Soon, there will be the first snowflake.

I know, because I have seen it before. For seasons and seasons now, for as long as I could remember, even though I do not know how many. Since time immemorial to me. I grew up on this patch of land, with my fellow blades of grass. There is nowhere we could go, only stretching upwards. Even then, only to a certain extent, as decreed by mother nature. After that, we are to stay stagnant while watching the environment around us change, and oh! So much, the change.

In the midst of the drab, I looked around me; my fellow blades of grass seem contented enough just to watch the change around us, never questioning, never doubting. And never, for even one single moment, wanting to experience something different. Maybe it's the stars, and the stars cannot be changed. But why this sudden power of thought?

For I am in love. With a snowflake that was falling to the ground. It never really touched the ground, for the wind was too strong, so it kept twirling and flitting gracefully, touching the hearts of everyone. I can only admire it from afar, but I prayed and prayed that it may someday land by my side, even if just one tiny moment.

One day, it actually did. And for a while, I was filled with so much joy, that nothing else mattered. Not my hellish state of life, not my helplessness. I was grateful just to be able to look at its eyes (see how big and deep they are). If I get to look at them once a day, I would be happy for the rest of my life. When it finally touched me, it felt like being touched by an angel. Such a soft caress, dry but warm, with skin so smooth and pure. Oh! The ecstasy!

Unfortunately, it was not meant to last. For a snowflake lives as a snowflake does; it leaves you when the season ends. As much as I am aware of that, I wanted so badly to hold on to it. To hope that things might turn out to be different. I waited for that day with sorrow, with fear. For I know that I would not be able to let go even when the inevitable comes. My heart was slowly breaking into a million pieces. Bit by bit, it bled each day it was slashed with the scythe of time.

Why is a snowflake so beautiful? It is beautiful because it is unique. Its purity might deceive you to its simplicity, but if you really, really see it, it is a complex being; every structure a life experience in itself. Despite all that, it never fails to dazzle you by just being there. But the reason why a snowflake is so beautiful is because it will not last forever. You cannot hold on to it; when the time comes for it to go, you must let it go. And you can only cherish the memories you have; that is the only thing that could last.

And so, as I stood here with my fellow blades of grass, bidding it farewell, I watched our cosmic bond stretching thinner and thinner, and finally disappeared, as it twirled its way into the universe, and into a new life.