The Long Winter

Snow crunched under her boots. The traps were empty again. Her stomach growled, reminding her that it was going to be another hungry day. Dani wrapped her arms around her stomach, trying to ignore its emptiness. The trees cracked in the wind long since picked of the winter berries and slowly dying like the rest of her world.

Dani thought back to the last time she spoke with her father. She woke up earlier than usual. It was freezing, but her mouth was dry from thirst. She wrapped up in her blanket and slipped her fuzzy blue slippers on. When Dani walked into the kitchen to get something, she saw her father stuffing hard bread and cheese into his bag.

“Now, Dani, I have to go away for a little bit,” he said, rubbing his scruffy beard. He kept looking at his feet avoiding her eyes.

“But father, you can’t leave us,” she whined. 

“Now look. I’ll be back. I just have things I need to do. I need you to care for your mother and baby brother.”

People disappeared around here. She tried not to think about it. There once was a town center, but now it was a ghost town. Winter came and never went away. 

Dani continued her march through the snow. Up in the distance, something sparkled. It was a silver round doorknob, and yet it wasn’t attached to a door. She balled up some snow and threw it, but the snow met no resistance except from the doorknob. Dani took a deep breath and opened the door. She gasped. A warm breeze washed over her with the scent of honeysuckle and life. There wasn’t snow on the other side, only green fields of flowers. At that moment, she realized it was all a lie.