Abel missed warmth. His feet shuffled through snow, sunlight reflecting like stars on the ground. Silence dominated. He had been doing something, he was sure. There was always something to be done, and Abel was pretty good at keeping himself busy. He tried to pull something to mind, tried to recall why he was walking out in the woods alone.

  It was so cold. He hated the cold, but the quiet was nice. There was so little of that when he was amongst the living. The little valley below him was full of people who moved so much faster than he did. Always speaking in conversations he couldn’t keep up with. Out here, in the winter sunshine, Abel could rest among the other cold and dead things. He knew there was something he was forgetting, but among the gnarled empty trees and untouched snow, it didn’t seem very important to recall.

  And so he wandered.

  The snow gave way, slowly, slowly, as he moved. Little peaks forming against his ankles. The water in the river next to him moved so fast beside him, even buried underneath the ice. It was much too loud for how quiet the rest of Abel’s existence demanded. His thoughts were sluggish, slow, and found great offense at the rush and rumble of water.

  The icy river was not the only loud disturbance. A child - rowdy, living - stumbled out from behind a fence on the far bank. They were screaming. Looking behind them. Their words, because Abel was sure they were speaking, laughing even, moved through Abel’s mind like buzzing bees. Chaotic and fuzzy. His teeth ached when he was looking at them. That was unacceptable, he was sure, and he didn’t like the feelings that seeing living flesh brought about. They pushed around the comfortable numbing cold, agitated the quiet in his mind. It wasn’t quite warmth, not how he remembered it. The feeling was too heavy and too dark to truly dismiss the cold.

  It moved him to act in a way he resented. So he began to turn away from the rolling river and the breathing child. Further into the empty trees sounded comfortably quiet, where he could return to little peaks of snow against his ankles.

  The child caught sight of Abel as he turned. Their frantic words moved the air around him, but he had mind only for the soft shuffle of snow. Although he was fairly certain he was forgetting something. Perhaps he would recall if he got away from whatever the noise behind him was. Noise always made it so much harder for him to think…

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

  》???????《

  “Abel? Abel! Guys, I found Abel! He isn’t listening to me, he’s walking away! No, don’t cross the river, stupid, I’ll tell on you! Leave the water alone and go get Cordelia and mom. I’ll stay here, if you're fast he probably won’t get far, he doesn't move very fast right now.”

  》???????《

  The snow had come to life. It moved toward him with long legs and a fluttery blue dress. Abel supposed it made sense that something made of snowflakes would have the delicate features of a woman. Sunlight glinted off her skin, and tiny wintery blue snowflakes bloomed across her cheeks. Wait, no. As she got closer the snowflakes turned into flowers, vines scrawling down her body and disappearing into the blue dress she wore.

  “Oh, Abel,” the snow whispered his name in a voice he knew. He struggled to pull his thoughts together. He knew that long white hair, the braid that it was wrapped in was familiar. A memory hovered hazily in his mind. He had braided her hair, painstakingly with his own numb fingers.

  What was her name?

  Inhaling was cold- so, so cold. He knew why he had stopped doing it, but speaking seemed more important than keeping the cold out.

  “Cor…?”

  The effort was worth the smile that bloomed on Cordelia’s face, pushing aside the flowers on her cheeks.

  “Abel. I have not enjoyed the last few days. You scared ten years out of me.” There was something ironic in that last sentence, he knew it, but his mind had given up after pulling Cor’s name out of his muggy thoughts. She seemed to sense his flagging attention, and reached out to take his hand. She was warm, and he fumbled to wrap his fingers around hers. Her hand felt like a stone in springtime sunshine.

  Cordelia smiled wider. “Come on, you shuffling disaster. Let’s get you home.”