A pale veil clung to the panes of the windows, frosting all the edges, as if trying to seal away everything from each other, creating a sense of isolation. Yet, through the frosty glass a vision of white could still be seen outside. Snow from a few days before still hung to every surface it could collect itself upon, creating a layer of white. Most of it on the streets had been pushed off, including the piles along the sidewalks, and there were few footprints left behind by those who wished to venture out into that white world.

It all seemed so lonely.

Such was the feeling that Elliot had gotten used to. She stood at her window looking outside with a mug of freshly brewed hot chocolate in her hand, the silence and stillness of winter more noticeable within her flat than the few Christmas decorations she had put up. There was a tree, of course, and it stood proudly between the windows, though the very top of it barely pushed past Elliot's own height. There was tinsel wrapped around it and ornaments of red and gold were hung all around as well, while a simple star floated just above  the very tip of the tree. Once the day was over and all was dark again she would use another charm to set the star aglow. 

She had received word from her parents a week before that she was invited to spend Christmas at home, but, even now, she still couldn't bring herself to face them and the humiliation she had brought upon herself by her own stupidity and selfishness. She was well aware that the events which caused this rift between herself and her family were her own fault, yet, she was still unsure if she had fully paid back what she had bargained for. And so, like the previous years before, she had promptly written back informing them that she would celebrate the holiday from afar.

As for her friends, they were few and far between. She didn't get many invitations for Christmas parties, and they usually included things she didn't care for. Part of it was also because she didn't believe herself significant enough to actually show up, and if she didn't she figured she wouldn't be missed. 

Despite the winter holiday being considered the most wonderful time of the year, for the past few years Elliot found it to be a melancholy one.

How many more times are you going to do this? Do you really want to spend another Christmas alone?  The last word echoed within her mind, bouncing off the memories within, leaving an ache behind that made Elliot almost visibly wince with each one. Her grip tightened ever so slightly on the mug, but as the moment passed the ache did not.

Elliot sighed as she drew away from the window, as if to draw away from the thought that had just passed through her mind. The hem of her long robes brushed against the floor as she moved across the room to sit herself down in the loveseat in the opposite corner of her flat, which granted her a better view of her tree and the few presents she had received from friends and family arranged beneath it. Even though it was Christmas Day she had not yet gotten to unwrapping them. She would get to that when she felt the desire...but not right now.

She remained sitting quietly there, her gaze upon the tree and her mind sorting through a year's worth of memories, just as she had done the year before... Meditations on plans she had hoped for that had gone unachieved; wishes she had made and yet to see fulfilled; ideas that had dimmed or been stored away.

"Merry Christmas," she said softly before sipping again at her hot chocolate. "And a Happy New Year. Maybe next year will be better..."