Vernalisation

"Don't go..." yet she was already gone, her footsteps shattering the puddles like mirrors on the pavement and fracturing the night's tranquility.

He looked on with a thousand-yard stare lost in his own all-consuming despair, wallowing in self-pity, his face that of someone who waits but is at a loss of what he is waiting for.

An eternity later, a minute figure skips past his gloomy presence and asks curiously: "You all right mister?"

"Yes, I'm fine."

The figure did not appear to hear his response and strolled off into the night; nonetheless, a lukewarm yet comforting feeling flickered into life in his heart and he too wandered into the night.

Spring arrived in full force, bringing with it its companions, hope and beauty, to paint the world in jubilant colors. He stood on platform 222 awaiting her, tapping his feet against the solid concrete anxiously.

A lifetime later, the train pulled into the station and she strode through the opening doors and broke the ice.

"Hi."

"Hello."

And they both walked hand in hand through the wide open doors of the station into their new life, a singular daffodil unfurled its glorious yellow petals, finally in bloom.