Cherry Blossoms After Winter: Volume 1 Novels & Stories

The distant sound of Christmas bells rang out with a bong. Immediately after, fireworks exploded across the sky outside the window, illuminating the pitch-black night with red, green, and gold colors. Faint cheers could be heard in the distance. Midnight came, and the door to the private room remained tightly shut. Nobody pushed the door open and came in, nor did anyone get down on their knees. The smile froze on Dad's face. He stared at the door as if trying to bore a hole through it with his gaze. One minute passed. Two minutes. Five minutes.

The flashlight swept over the snow that was taller than my feet and then lit up something dark by a tree. I stayed calm and shifted the light away without thinking. The mountain behind our home always had some animals darting around. If I were unlucky, I would run into a wild boar. I was used to it, though, so I wasn't scared. I was about to leave when a weak voice called out from behind me. "Is anyone there? Hey... Am I really going to freeze to death out here?" Only then did I realize it sounded like a woman. - Had the angels really sent me a mom?

“Vivian, I have told you many times. Marriage and children are not part of my plans for the next few years. “This baby came at the wrong time. Let us not keep it for now. When the timing is better in the future, we can talk about it again, okay?” As I listened to those cold words, I felt, for the first time, that the man in front of me was a stranger. In the past, no matter how unreasonable his demands were, the second I saw him angry, I always gave in without hesitation.

he looked at the people around him and curled his eyes with a smile as he handed the trophy back to Ashly, "so this trophy is still to be given to you. You are the eternal number one." Ashly couldn't help but interrupt her performance. She tugged her mate's hand with a smile and commented, "It's so naive." "No," Alex said, saying he did not accept it, "very mature and very mature. "Will it be okay?" "Okay." Ashly stopped refuting but asked instead, "What are you going to do next?" "The flowering period of the cherry blossoms has recently arrived. Let's go and see it for a while," Alex asked sideways about Ashly's opinion.

**Seeds of Change** Winter arrived in Port Haven with a quiet intensity, blanketing the town in a layer of soft white snow. The garden that Lillian and Nicholas had worked so hard to tend was now a peaceful scene of bare branches and gently frosted flower beds, resting beneath the quiet weight of winter. Despite the cold, there was a warmth in the air—a sense of anticipation and contentment that had taken root in their hearts.

came back. He wanted us to have a break from each other ! Noooooo. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Chuun gyeoul kkeuteul jina (Passing by the edge of the cold winter) Dasi bomnari ol ttaekkaji (Until the days of spring) Kkot piul ttaekkaji (Until the days of flowers blossom) * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

“If you have any news, contact me immediately.” There was a slight pause before Kenji spoke again. “You still have that flower?” Yuri knew what flower her uncle was talking about -- The stalk of the cherry blossom flowers, otherwise known as the sakura blossoms, that Kenji had brought over during his January visit that year, and which Hitomi had placed in a vase half-filled with water. “Of course. Niisan never forgot that my favourite sakura blossoms. Every year, you always picked a stalk of it for me when the sakura blossoms in Japan.” There was a slight pause. “It’s getting late. I’ll make up a bed for you—”

Once outside the shop, Snow drew heart shapes in the air through the transparent glass wall, pointing at Ember beside me. I just shook my head, chuckling at that. Ember then cleared her throat from beside me, opened her bag, and handed me my charger. I could imagine the teasing look of Annie if she were ever to have been here. Anyways, smiling at ember, I muttered a thank you to her. She just nodded, her cheeks turning a bit red. “What did you mean by…me, helping you to move on? you said it earlier to Snow..” she asked, her hopeful eyes looking at me expectantly.

The bird was back. Perched outside of the attic window, it chirped a cheerful song, fluttering its wings and tapping its beak on the glass. Ella Sinders found herself distracted again. The bright blue feathers, the same shade as the sky behind the visitor, beckoned her to come outside, to feel the crisp spring air, feel the grass beneath her feet, gaze at the clouds as they rolled by, and forget all of her troubles.

“A breeze in the blue sky, In which swallows use to fly, Scatters the scent of flowers. Oh, sacred blossoms, take these scars, take these tears, And send them fluttering across the spring sky.” Esper sat atop a marble archway in a garden of ruins. She wore a simple white dress and still had bandages covering most of her body. Her right leg swung slowly back and forth over the edge as she sang to herself. “If I wander about ashore,