Stone Cold

The flurry of snowflakes fell like feathers, covering the silent world. The girl trudged across the vast expanse of pure white, marred only by her recent footsteps which soon vanished beneath the snow. A thought hit her. No one would know she had been here. No one would be able to find her.

The bitter cold seeped through her coat, but that wasn’t what made her shiver. She looked up at the ominous grey sky, hiding the rays of the orange sun. The clouds gathered, glaring down at her, expanding at an alarming rate. The grey and black of them destroyed all colour in the small world of white in which the girl stood.

When she looked forward again, the snowflakes attacked her, obscuring her vision so she could barely see the towering oak tree that loomed over her. The branches were bent, cowering beneath the blocks of white, which it managed to shake off every few minutes. The birds that usually sang in the tree were silent, as was the rest of the snowy land surrounding her.

The blizzard was stronger now, as was the screaming wind that was dragging the girl backwards. She had the feeling something was behind the tree, something the ferocious weather didn’t want her to see. But the more the wind pulled at her and the more the flickering snowflakes blinded her, the more she had to see. In a sudden moment of split decision she bent her head and tried to force herself through the howling gail. All at once a whirlpool of small white crystals launched themselves at her. The girl covered her face with her arms and dashed forward.

The howling of the wind stopped. The girl lifted her head slowly, as if any sudden movements would set the roaring animal off again. Only one or two lone snowflakes drifted down from the clear blue sky. The ground was layered with blue-white snow which lime-green grass had sometimes poked through. The eerie silence was unnerving. It pressed in on the girls ears, deafening her. But she could still hear the crunch of a footstep behind her. She turned to look…and immediately wished she hadn’t.