Short Story - Winter's Flame

Here is a short story I previously had on livejournal. This one was wrote for christmass so sorry for being out of season XD
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It was a cold winter’s day. The time of year which once filled me with excitement as a child was starting to leave me as cold inside as it felt outside. Each year the fire of Christmas slowly started to go out leaving me feeling cold and numb, except for that year.

It felt like any other Christmas. I walked casually through the street, the bright red clothes rebelled against the white ground, the lights scattered as far as the eye could see rebelled with the shorter nights and children wore smiles that could melt the heart of any Grinch. It was truly a time of year for being with those you cared about... which was exactly why I wanted it to be over with as soon as possible.
I left my family to work in a far away country, and all of my friends are with those that they care about, and that’s why I walked down the street alone looking at all the presents that I would never again receive or give. Lost in thought I lost sight of my surroundings and before I knew it I had tripped over something that was on the ground.
When I came to be aware of my surroundings I looked at my hand and noticed that it was bleeding after hitting the ground and there was a girl looking at me with a look of shock filling her face. Then I looked at my feet and noticed a bag of presents under my feet. The girl apologised furiously and explained that she had just left her bags down while she was opening the door to her house. After seeing my hand she dragged me into the house and tended to my wounds while all the time talking to me. Every word she said and everything she said quickly started to rekindle the failing flame within my heart. With some courage I asked to spend some time with her the next day, and then the day after that and then the day after that and it continued like a dream which seemed like it was never going to end and every moment spent with her burnt the flame in my heart ever brighter... but all dreams have to end and after spending Christmas day with her and her family she revealed that she was only in town to visit her family and had to leave again in a few days. During those days I knew I had to tell her how I felt I knew I had to unleash the flame that had been reborn within me, but each day went by without being able to build up the courage to say a couple of simple words and all I could say in the end was “Goodbye” with a strained smile on my face...
I counted down the days of the year until I would see her again. I felt like a kid again counting down to Christmas waiting until he could open his presents. With each day that went by and as Christmas came closer the flame in my heart started to flicker more and more with anticipation, until finally the day came. I was overwhelmed when she invited me to dinner and I could see her after such a long time.
As I walked into the restaurant the waiter guided me to a table set for three. I was slightly surprised, but I should have realised I wouldn’t be the only friend that she wanted to see after such a long time... but then I saw her walk in holding hands with a man I never saw before... and on her finger I saw an engagement ring...
As she sat down she had an excited look on her face and said she had something to tell me. She didn’t need to tell me... I could already tell what she was going to say... I knew what was about to happen, my mind didn’t want it to be true, my ears didn’t want to hear it... but she said it anyways. She said that she was engaged. The flame in my heart was suddenly blown out leaving me with nothing left to protect me from the cold of Christmas...