My long, dark, curls flew behind me as I raced after my brother
"Bet you can't catch me!" He shouted, his voice raised just loud enough to be heard over the howling winds.
"Bet I can!" I giggled, diving over the smooth, sloping branches of my favorite tree. Through clumps of snow, across patches of ice, and past groups of deer, determined to make it up to him and my father.
"Slo-" As soon as it escaped my mouth, the words caught on something, just like my legs. I tripped, tumbling through the barren fields. I couldn't move, let alone slow down. I went faster, faster, until my brother realized it wasn't a game. He was too far ahead, not fast enough to reach me. My breath stopped. Everything stopped. It was only me, whipping through the frozen trees, wearing nothing but my thin, ragged coat. I had said I didn't need a scarf, and my father had agreed. My mind thumbled to create thoughts, to tell my arms to grab onto something, but it was numbed my the cold. It only knew that my father wasn't going to reach me this time. Maybe never, ever, again.
