Moria A. 

CRUNCH. CRUNCH. Repeated in a rhythmic pattern as the sole of Pantalla’s boot thudded down into the undisturbed pearlescent white snow. The coming of spring would reveal the bushes, bring forth the grass and seedlings of tiny plants that rarely can survive the winter, but around her was a landscape of white. Barren trees stretched out towards the sun, but stayed still, their only leaves being a collection of snow that failed to fall to the ground. Winter held a threatening silence as the world stood still, waiting for the cold chill to set in. CRUSHWP. The snow consumed her leg, grabbing tight and bringing Pantalla’s slowly freezing body crashing onto the ground. The coldness of the ground seeped into her too thin clothes, bit at her neck and hands, kept her rooted into the ground. She couldn’t even raise a finger, as she just laid there. If looks can kill, and if you had to bet on it, the expression was most likely created after the lure of a perfect winter wonderland. Snowflakes danced down from the heavens, light as a feather, yet in mass could render the strongest man as stiff as a board. The sun glittered in the snow, catching the light as if the ground itself was made up of thousands of small diamonds. Pantalla breathed in deeply, then shallowly, her breath steaming the air, proving that Pantalla was in fact alive, that there was some warmth in the otherwise desolate forest, but for how long. There is this idea of a difference between warm and cold. How warmth soothes itself into the body, often a welcome addition to most days, but many don’t acknowledge how cold does the same, but rather it creeps. When you are warm, your body is unaware of how fast it gets warmer, but when the cold sets in, every nerve is alerted. Every bone, every muscle knew until suddenly the cold wasn’t so bad anymore. A numbness sets into the body, something relaxed, something peaceful. Pantalla was lured into this numbness, her body stopped shivering, her teeth stopped chattering, and she laid there. Each breath ragged and drawn out. 

“PANTALLA??” 

Someone yelled out.

“WHERE ARE YOU?”

“PANTALLA”

The snow shook next to her as the voice ran towards her, the man desperately grabbing her frigid limbs and trying to pick her off the ground.

“Hey, hey, you’re ok. You’re alright.”