For Love Of The Snow Goddess

Icy cold winds bit into the skin of his face as he struggled against the solid winds of the blizzard. To have gotten lost in this weather was sheer stupidity, he knew; he had next to no chance of survival now. He silently cursed himself as he tried to pull his jacket further up, so it would cover his face and nose and keep his already raw skin away from the bitter chill that was surrounding him.

He stumbled to a halt at the top of what felt like a hill, but the driving snow made it impossible for him to see even five feet in front of himself. He rubbed his freezing hands over his face and sighed heavily, so used to the shivering now that he barely noticed it any more. When he removed his hands, he paused, then squinted a little, painfully, at something he thought he saw. A figure...? Long hair, so maybe female. He stared a moment longer, then ran down the snowy slope again, unsure whether he was desperate to tell her to go home again, or to ask her where she'd come from.

Sliding to a halt at the bottom of the slope, where he had sighted the long-haired figure, he looked around in puzzlement. Not only was there no one there, there were no sign of tracks at all. He didn't think it was feasible that the wind could have covered them up again in such a short time, but, faced with the definite non-existence of his perceived saviour, could surmise no other than that. He looked around desperately, turning around several times until he lost his orientation entirely. Where could she have just vanished to?! Suddenly tired beyond belief, he simply dropped backwards, falling into the snow as if he had no more fight left in him. Despite all evidence to the contrary, the snow was warm, and strangely inviting. It was so tempting... He could just shut his eyes and fall asleep in this warm ice, and sleep for eternity. One part of his mind screamed at him in terror and despair, telling him that to give in now would be cowardly and trying to beg him to struggle onwards. It was beaten down again and again by the part of his mind that was simply exhausted, the part that wanted to just give everything in now. He had nothing to live for anyway, he was a failure. It would all be better this way.

He was just preparing to fall into the black and bottomless pit that was a snow suicide, when a faint rustle came to his ears. His eyes blinked slowly, opening slightly and trying to make sense of the blurred white world above him. Then a smell overcame him, a soft, warm, floral smell that encouraged him somehow, making him open his eyes wider and struggle up onto his knees. His eyes widened.

Some ten feet in front him, totally visible despite the still howling snow, was a beautiful woman, with hair the colour of freshly landed snow and exquisite pale skin. Her height was indiscernible to him, and all he could recognise was her beauty anyway. She was watching him calmly, dispassionately, with eyes that were startlingly dark.

He stared at her, mouth slightly agape, for a moment longer before lunging to his feet and running towards her, his wish for a frozen death evaporating as he saw her. Yet she only turned from him and walked away, further into the snowstorm.