Ice is breaking, rivers sigh,
Something new is drawing nigh.
I walk through the winter woods,
My heart lighter, the air fresher.
Like the snow fading, my youth is ebbing,
But there is promise in the sky.
Frozen memories in the air,
Drifting past me, light as prayer.
Every footprint that I leave,
Sinks then vanishes with the breeze.
Springtime calls but I still stay,
Watching winter slip away.
Letting go is never kind,
But I shall not be left behind.
I walk through the winter woods,
My heart lighter, the air fresher.
Like the snow fading, my youth is ebbing,
But there is promise in the sky.
Footsteps fading, soft and slow,
Gone soon like all the melting snow.
He was nearly halfway home when the snow deepened around him, each step punching through the icy crust into the slush beneath. With no snowshoes, he trudged on, breath heavy, sweat prickling beneath his layers. When he reached a narrow creek, he paused to rest.
The stream gurgled softly over mud-slick banks, fed by the thaw. Nic knelt to drink, the cold water stinging his throat and shocking him back into focus.
Above, branches groaned. He looked up just in time to see a cascade of snow release from the canopy. Heavy clumps thudded to the ground like celestial debris. Flurries drifted more gently in their wake, luminous and slow, as though heaven were descending through the trees.
Nic slung his pack over one shoulder and turned from the stream—just as a frozen mass slammed into the crown of his head. Snow burst against his scalp and scattered down his neck in icy streaks. He shouted in alarm, flailing to brush it away. It had fallen with the precision of a prank—he half expected to see a smug squirrel grinning overhead. But all he found was another veil of descending snow.
A second thud.
He ducked too late.
The ground shifted beneath his boots. He stumbled, slipped, and went down hard. Pain lanced through his back—and then something struck him like a blow from a hammer. A forceflattened him to the snow. White shards stabbed his face and hands.
“Damn! Damn—”
A tree limb. He couldn't move.
His body screamed with protest as the weight pinned him down, driving icy slush through his clothes. His left shoulder radiated fire. Cold sweat sprang across his skin, and a rough, helpless sound burst from his throat.
