Arkida Clarke's Mistake

“Trees towered upwards with bending boughs holding the weight of the freshly fallen snow. A blanket of snow hid away all traces of animal life although you could hear the krawing of a murder of crows. Their hidden presence was foreboding to all men who passed through the forest. It was a signal of another starved beast returning to the earth. Even the most frivolous found the endless winter to be a burden.

Buddha once claimed, “No one saves us but ourselves. No one can and no one may. We ourselves must walk the path.” In the story, Ashleigh has to decide what path she wants to take in life; right or wrong, good or bad. Her father, whom she very much loves and adores, wants her to take his ex-wife’s, Ashleigh’s mother’s, emergency money. Although Ashleigh’s dad says he’ll pay her and her mom back before anyone notices the money is missing, Ashleigh is left with a tough decision; does she steal the money from her mom for her dad, or does she make her dad figure out another way to come up with the money? Ashleigh did not take the money because she knows that her and her mom wouldn’t have any money if an emergency occurred, she would get in a lot of trouble if her mom found out, and she wouldn’t have a way to replace the money if her dad never paid her back.

Victoria Cunningham feared every other human being on Earth. She’d been abused by a series of foster parents and came to look on any attention from anyone as a threat. She especially feared big, gruff men with deep voices.

The fountain is frozen and icicles hang from the rooftop. The grass is bright white, covered in ice crystals. The sidewalks are frozen and the cars look like monstrous marshmallows. The entire family gathers for breakfast in the Mess Hall, which is an enormous room with a table shaped like a horseshoe and over two dozen chairs. Mounted deer hang on the wall, too numerous to count. A chandelier made of antlers hangs down in the center of the room. People gather around the burning fireplace for warmth. I hear pots and pans clanking together; I can smell the bacon and biscuits cooking to perfection. The smell of the brewing coffee engulfs the room. After breakfast, the kids go to our cabins and find the warmest clothes we can. We walk out the Mess Hall and everything we see is frozen. These polar temperatures are just like the ones when our family went skiing. We drove eighteen hours up to Wintergreen, Virginia for a ski trip with our cousins from North Carolina. Since it was our first time skiing, it took some practice and falling on our faces before we got the hang of it. Every night after the slopes closed, my cousins, my two sisters, and I brought sleds onto the slope and slid down part of the mountain. I can feel the arctic temperatures blowing on my face. My ears and nose turn shades of red and blue. My vision is blinded by snowflakes falling in my face. I cannot see where I am going until I hit a fence face first. I suddenly feel

Warmth, Jonas thought. All he could think about was making it to Elsewhere. His feet traveling through snow. His feet were cold;his whole body was cold. “Elsewhere is close ,but maybe my journey will end soon ,” Jonas said.

Her heart was pounding, her head was racing. She looked around; where was she? Then she remembered the super bright light and the darkness, and she tried to remember if she knew where she was.

The cold winter breeze hit her skin as she stepped out of the warm truck, ordinarily, she immediately wrapped her arms around the black coat attempting to keep her warm, as she was freezing from the sudden temperature change from the truck into the chilly air. Looking back to the sled being drawn out of the back of the truck, then she turned around and her eyes landed on the Rocke’s house, their close family friends. Gazing briefly at her parents one last time, ran to the door of the house, ready to get out of the cold momentarily.

A million thoughts running through her mind. “Get to the creek, get the bag”. The torches search the over grown field her body hot in the frosted blades that come up to her knees. Dropping to the ground chest flat to the earth her heart in her throat. “We know you’re out there” he says the panic in his voice worries her. The field suddenly becomes dark and the people are getting closer. Marching in rows like men going to war. Without another thought she is running feet stumbling one after the other. Aching knees and weak bones carry her to the edge. She reaches the wall of trees that she has forever longed to meet. She turns to see if anyone had seen her. The lights are back on and the torches are moving through the grass. She looks down at her thin pale wrist and removed a small band with ‘Renee Grace’

The condensed snow under my feet was crushed with every step. The snow was around four inches deep, my boots made a large enough indent, that I made a noticeable trail of holes with every step. The sun had vanished behind a mountain, the sky’s light had gone from an amiable orange, to a mellow blue. I could see outline of the moon between two clouds, and the air’s bite grew colder by the moment. I had taken a detour, past a thin slice of trees near to my neighborhood. Even for a forest, it was a cold, silent place. I used to come out to places like this as a kid, quiet places where I would sit and be alone for hours. I guess I forgot how often that was, but for the moment, I had something else to worry about.

She was eight years old, and it barely began getting crispy outside. Winter was right around the corner. She loved winter, the cold weather always made her all lubricous. Her favorite part of winter was eating cold food and wrapping herself around him while he was cold. She always thought cold items and food were the best in cold weather and having the air in front of her while it was cold just made it so fun. Unfortunately she wasn’t enjoying this upcoming winter without him.

Cold... why was it always so fucking cold... Cass curled up on her cot in a vain attempt to warm her body, pulling her knees to her chest and squeezing her eyes shut trying to fall asleep. She couldn't remember the last time she slept... honestly she couldn't even remember how long it had been since she woken up in the tiny cell that had become her home whether she liked it or not. Slowly she sat upright in her little cot and examined her "room".

Heading out the door, I try and leave the feeling of darkness and despair. Cool winds brushed against my skin and the feeling of freedom and escape filled my body. It reminded me of the time where I had no worries, when I was a kid, free of trouble and stress. Those were the days. I looked around and saw the beautiful vibrant colours of flaming orange and red spread across trees which only reminded me that the dreaded winter was coming. The fact that I had no cosy coats, warm blankets or heaters made me resent

She shoved herself off of the sink and slowly started to discard of her clothing. The sticky clothes smeared more blood on herself as she took them off, and she threw them in the sink. She looked to the shower.

Debbie Davis, a healthy six year, who loves riding her bike, playing soccer and climbing trees, came home from school one day and told her parents she just wanted to sleep. Though this was unusual for the normally rambunctious child, her parents accredited it to being winter

Clarke was taking off her shoes and socks. She also rolled up her pants. Clarke stepped slowly and softly in to the small stream. She waited till fish slowly came to her. They swam around her feet a little and some of the tiny ones picked at her. Clarke waited till one of the bigger fish got closer to her feet then she jabbed into the water trying to stand the fish but I didn't work. She tried again with a different fish. She tried again and again and again. After a while Clarke got so frustrated she just jabbed at the water she was lucky she didn't hit her feet.