The Girl Who Carried Winter - By Indi Haynes

Written By: Indi Haynes

Category: short story

Competition: Global Poetry and Creative Writing Competition 2026

Indi Haynes presents a deeply introspective piece titled "The Girl Who Carried Winter" in the Short Story category of the Global Poetry and Creative Writing Competition 2026. Through this evocative narrative, Haynes explores the nuanced journey of self-discovery and the weight of invisible burdens. The Global Poetry and Creative Writing Competition 2026 provides a platform for voices like Haynes to share their unique perspectives with a global audience.

About the Work

"The Girl Who Carried Winter" delves into themes of identity, resilience, and the quiet strength found in moments of uncertainty. Haynes crafts a narrative that mirrors the introspective nature of life, using vivid imagery and a reflective tone to capture the essence of a soul navigating through a fog of unknowing. The story speaks to the universal human experience of searching for meaning and direction.

The Girl Who Carried Winter

Original Submission by Indi Haynes

The Girl Who Carried Winter

She walked as though someone had stitched stones into the hems of her clothes. She was tired all the time. Not the kind of tired that sleep could soften. The kind that settled into her bones like rain sinking into old wood. The kind that wrapped around her ribs like ivy, climbing higher each day until breathing felt borrowed. She woke every morning feeling as though she had spent the entire night running through dreams that never let her rest. People kept asking what was wrong. She wished she knew.

How do you explain that nothing happened, and somehow everything did?

Life had become a hallway line with unopened doors. Everyone else seemed to know which one belonged to them. They marched forward carrying maps she had never been given, while she stood in the middle, turning in slow circles, hoping one of the doors would whisper her name. None of them did.

She felt like a lighthouse with no light left to give. Still standing. Still expected to guide ships home. But empty. She laughed when laughter was expected, smiled like it was stitched onto her face, and nodded through conversations that floated past her like leaves on a river she no longer knew how to cross. Inside, she was as quiet as a house after everyone had moved away.

She missed herself. Not who she was yesterday. Who she was before life became something to survive instead of something to wake up for.

Some days her heart felt like a library after a fire. Shelves still standing. Thousands of stories turned to ash. She searched through herself for the girl who used to collect tiny joys like seashells. Sunsets and pop songs, warm tea, the morning light, the smell of rain. But all she found was empty hands.

The future stretched before her like an ocean in winter. Endless. Grey. Beautiful, maybe. But impossible to imagine swimming across.

“What if I never figure it out?” she wondered.

The question echoed inside her chest like footsteps in an abandoned cathedral. The trees outside her window seemed to know exactly when to bloom. Birds always knew where home was. Rivers never questioned which direction they should flow. Only humans, she thought, are given hearts that ache to belong and minds that never stop asking where. She wished someone would hand her instructions. A map. A sign. Anything. Instead, life placed another sunrise outside her window.

She almost closed the curtains. But there was something stubborn inside her. Not hope exactly. Hope felt too loud a word. It was smaller than that. A tiny ember, buried beneath a mountain of ash, insisting on staying warm. She realised maybe she wasn't a broken compass. Maybe she was simply standing in a forest so thick she couldn't see stars yet. Maybe the reason she felt so unbearably tired wasn’t because she was weak, but because she had been carrying invisible things for far too long. Expectations, memories, questions with no answers, grief for versions of herself that never got to exist.

No wonder her shoulders hurt.

No wonder he heart walked with a limp.

She looked at the sky. Clouds drifted without apologising for not being mountains. The moon changed every night and no one called it lost. The ocean never asked permission to rise and fall. Perhaps becoming wasn't meant to feel like arriving. Perhaps it was meant to feel exactly like this. Like wandering through fog, trusting that somewhere beyond what she could not yet see, the road was still there.

She took one step.

It wasn't brave.

It wasn’t certain.

It was simply the only step she could take.

And somehow, for the first time in a long time, that was enough.

Because even the longest winters are not proof that spring has forgotten the earth. Sometimes they are only proof that the roots are working in places no one can see.

About the Competition

The Global Poetry and Creative Writing Competition 2026 by Hashtag Kalakar is a prestigious event celebrating the art of written word. Participants from around the globe contribute their works, showcasing diverse voices and creative expressions. This competition serves as a beacon for emerging and established writers, providing a platform to share their stories with a worldwide audience.

We extend our heartfelt thanks to Indi Haynes for sharing "The Girl Who Carried Winter" as part of the Global Poetry and Creative Writing Competition 2026. Your contribution enriches the tapestry of voices in this literary festival. We are grateful for your participation and the introspective journey your story offers to readers everywhere.

About Hashtag Kalakar

Hashtag Kalakar is a creative platform dedicated to providing artists, writers, singers and other creative talents with opportunities to showcase their work and reach wider audiences through competitions, features and creative initiatives.