Stories Hidden in Shadows By Julian Blake 27

Stories Hidden in Shadows By Julian Blake 27 Summary

 

Nicholas waits anxiously as a staff member returns, this time accompanied by another woman. Neither carries anything, which immediately fills him with dread. He struggles to stand, his emotions overwhelming him, and demands to know where his wife’s ashes are. The women exchange sympathetic glances and gently explain that Elara’s final wishes have been followed exactly—her remains have already been handled according to her instructions, and there is nothing left for him to take.

 

The revelation hits Nicholas like a physical blow, shattering his fragile composure. He clenches his fists in anguish and points at the folder they hold, desperate for answers. The women try to comfort him, urging him to take care of himself because Elara would want that. Despite his sorrow, Nicholas opens the folder and reads three questions, each answered simply with “No.” The words blur and become incomprehensible, symbolizing his struggle to accept the reality.

 

As he reads further, he finally understands Elara’s last wishes: to be cremated immediately after death, with her ashes scattered somewhere when the first snow falls—anywhere. Overwhelmed, Nicholas leaves the building in a daze and collapses in the snow outside. He loses consciousness briefly but is brought back by the cold melting snow against his skin. The darkness and silence around him deepen his isolation.

 

Nicholas lies alone in the snow as it begins to fall again, feeling a haunting connection to Elara’s scattered ashes. He cannot cry anymore, his grief too profound, and he stares up at the black sky, unsure if the snowflakes are just snow or a symbol of Elara’s presence. All that remains is his fragile hope that the snow will fall heavily enough to bury him completely, reflecting his desperate desire to escape the pain of loss.

 

Continue Regular Chapter Reading Below

Chapter 17

The staff member had been gone for what felt like an eternity—maybe ten minutes—before she finally returned. This time, she wasn’t alone; a second woman accompanied her.

Neither of them carried anything in their hands.

Nicholas felt an unbearable tightness grip his chest, squeezing the breath from him.

He forced himself upright from the chair, his legs wobbling beneath him as he took a few unsteady steps forward.

“Where are her ashes?” His voice cracked, betraying the storm of emotions roiling inside.

The two women exchanged a glance, then turned back to him, their expressions softening with genuine sympathy.

“Mr. Sterling, I’m truly sorry,” the first woman said gently. “I’ve reviewed the records thoroughly. Your wife left very clear instructions regarding the handling of her remains. We have already fulfilled her wishes. I’m afraid there’s nothing here for you to take with you.”

The words landed on him like a brutal blow to the stomach.

Whatever fragile thread of composure he’d been clinging to snapped instantly.

His fists clenched so tightly that his nails dug painfully into his palms. His jaw locked as he raised a trembling hand, pointing accusingly at the folder they held.

Seeing his pale, strained face, the women hesitated, concern flickering in their eyes. They seemed to fear the contents might be too much for him to bear.

“Mr. Sterling,” the second woman said softly, “your wife is at peace now. You need to take care of yourself. She would want that.”

Their eyes brimmed with compassion, and in that silent exchange, Nicholas understood everything he needed to know.

He already guessed what the folder contained.

His vision blurred with sorrow, but despite the weight pressing down on him, he extended his hand.

With trembling fingers, Nicholas opened the file.

At the top of the page, three questions were printed in English.

Beneath each question, the answer was the same.

No.

Just two simple letters.

Yet they seemed to multiply and swirl before his eyes, blurring together into an unintelligible haze.

He blinked hard, forcing his gaze downward to the next section—a longer sentence.

He recognized every word, but as he tried to piece them together, the meaning dissolved into darkness, slipping away before he could grasp it.

He closed his eyes, opened them again, then closed them once more, but the sentence remained an alien code.

One of the women noticed his struggle and gently guided him back to the chair.

This time, as he stared at the words, the truth of Elara’s final wishes finally sank in.

“After I die, please cremate me immediately. Don’t bury my ashes. When the first snow falls, scatter them somewhere. Anywhere.”

He had no memory of how he left the building afterward.

Nor could he recall how long he lay there in the snow.

The only thing he remembered was losing his balance on the stairs, tumbling down, his body striking the ground with a harsh impact.

But beneath him, the snow was soft.

For a fleeting moment, he wondered if he had died too—if perhaps he had drifted up to some ethereal heaven, weightless and numb.

Until the snow began to melt against his body heat, soaking through his clothes, chilling his skin until it turned a mottled shade of blue and purple.

That’s when he truly came back to himself.

Darkness had fallen. The building’s lights were off, and an eerie silence surrounded him.

It was just him and the snow.

Nicholas exhaled, his breath rising in a misty cloud that blurred his vision.

He hadn’t noticed when the snow started falling again, but now he could feel the tiny ice crystals settling on his eyelashes like frozen tears.

Like tears.

But they weren’t tears.

Because Nicholas couldn’t cry anymore.

He gazed upward at the black sky, his eyes unfocused, and for a moment he couldn’t tell the difference.

Couldn’t tell if what was drifting down on him was snow—

Or if it was Elara.

Turned to ash. Scattered across the sky. Gone forever.

All that remained was a fragile hope, a desperate plea, that these sudden, ghostly blossoms of white would fall harder, heavier—

Enough to bury him completely.

Conclusion

 

In this chapter, Nicholas confronts the painful finality of Elara’s wishes, a moment heavy with grief and acceptance. The absence of her ashes symbolizes the intangible nature of loss, while the snow becomes a poignant metaphor for both her scattering and his overwhelming sorrow. His physical collapse mirrors the emotional collapse within, yet the snow’s cold embrace also grounds him in reality, a silent witness to his mourning.

 

Despite the crushing weight of despair, there lingers a fragile hope woven through Nicholas’s anguish—a hope that the snow, like Elara’s memory, might cover and soothe the raw wounds of his heart. In this quiet, desolate moment, the chapter captures the profound loneliness of saying goodbye, and the tentative steps toward finding peace beneath the shadow of love lost.

 

What to Expect in Next Chapter?

 

The next chapter promises to delve deeper into Nicholas’s fragile state as he grapples with the weight of Elara’s final wishes and the crushing reality of her absence. His emotional turmoil is palpable, and readers can expect to witness the raw, unfiltered pain that threatens to consume him. Yet, beneath this sorrow lies a flicker of something more—perhaps a spark of resolve or a haunting memory that refuses to fade.

 

Tensions may rise as Nicholas confronts not only his grief but also the lingering mysteries surrounding Elara’s last instructions. The scattering of her ashes beneath the first snow carries a symbolic weight that could unlock hidden layers of their story, stirring unresolved feelings and unanswered questions. As the cold night envelops him, the boundary between past and present, hope and despair, blurs—setting the stage for a poignant exploration of loss, love, and the fragile threads that bind them.