An Unexpected Winter

There are few things more depressing than Christmas Eve celebrated in the dorm room of a university. To begin with, you have the exodus at the start of the month when all those who have friends and family depart. That removes eighty percent of the population. Then, the richer expatriate students who can afford to leave go on holiday. In the end, those dorm rooms, once filled with life and hormones are abandoned to the few stragglers who have nowhere to go and no friends to accompany them in their loneliness. Of course, it wasn’t true emptiness, as the occasional face you saw drove home the fact that you really were alone.

“The worst part is, I don’t even celebrate Christmas!” Jane said, out loud in her room. She was seated on the single bed that took up two-thirds of the tiny dorm room. Each room was about fourteen feet long and eight feet wide, leaving just enough space for the bed, a desk, the standing closet, and a sink. To add to the depressive atmosphere, bare walls of unpainted gray concrete blocks surrounded her, while the usual cold English winter weather barely lit the room as sunset arrived. On Christmas Eve itself, being alone in a room like this reminded her of how much she missed her family. Her friends.

Not that she or her family had celebrated the event. It was such a Western thing, the gifting of presents. Her family had avoided any such celebrations, not being Christian. In fact, her father had looked forward to Christmas for another reason entirely—overtime pay. For all that, living in England and surrounded by reminders of the event, it reminded Jane of her isolation.

Still, appearances had to be kept up.

Jane stared at the message on her laptop, opened to the university’s shared mailing system. She read over the message once more to ensure it had no errors and then hit send, and the message was on its way.

To all members of the Exeter Malaysian Society:
The Malaysian Society board wishes you a Merry Christmas!
Sincerely,
Jane Zhao
President, Malaysian Society

Having done her duty, Jane reached out to shut her white laptop. Before she could finish, her e-mail pinged, informing her of a new e-mail. Jane frowned, surprised, and then curious at the quick return.

Moments later, she had the e-mail open. The frown on her brow deepened as she read the contents, her glum state turning to anger. The message itself was simple.
Stop spamming with these stupid messages. Take me off the list.

No signature, no reply. But, like all student e-mail services, his name was on the top of the message. Wang Wen Jun. The name was quite familiar, so she was certain she’d met him. Jane did try to meet every single member of the society. Putting the laptop aside, Jane picked up a pen and began twirling it around her fingers, round and round. Now, where…?

Ah! The dinner. He was the cute one standing in the corner, looking all kinds of uncomfortable. If she remembered correctly, he’d run off within the hour, having barely spoken to anyone.

Rude.

Just like the e-mail. Even if she wasn’t feeling it, why did he have to be a Grinch? Why did he have to mess up someone else’s good intentions? And, as she stared at the e-mail, she realized that he hadn’t just replied to her. He’d replied to the entire list.

That was it. That was the last straw. Jane huffed, nearly snapping the pen in her fingers apart.

Release Date: December 1, 2020

Pages: 14

Genre:

eBook ISBN: 9781989994986

Language: English

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