A BEAUTIFUL LIE.
It was the middle of December, and Charlie Cole drew his hood over his head with gloved hands as he briskly walked out of the train station, his head down.

Charlie felt what he had dreaded all afternoon - a numbing sensation in his pocket that was to him that moment like pinpricks. He pulled out his still-vibrating phone. It was Eileen.

"Charlie, we're not friends anymore." the message said simply.

He collapsed onto a bench on the sidewalk where he was standing, and silently choked back tears. He looked down and saw a leaf on the pavement, trampled by the soles of merciless commuters and barely more than an indistinct leaf-shaped patch of brown on gray now. Could he do the same with all the memories of Eileen? All the fun times together, all the vows, all the promises, all the playful tussles?

He looked up, and saw the moon shining bright as ever, mocking the catastrophe inside him.

It had begun to sleet.

He grabbed hold of an ice-cold gaudy pamphlet carelessly disposed on the bench next to him. "CHRISTMAS, THE BEST TIME OF THE YEAR! SPECIAL DEALS INSIDE!" it proclaimed shamelessly.

It was a lie, a beautiful lie, yes, but a dastardly one nonetheless.
THE END.