The moonlight falls upon the forest, casting spindly shadows of the trees onto the white snow covering the ground. The frozen air swirls across the land, lifting up transient, sparkling clouds of snow. The imperious keening of wolves joins the commanding howling of the wind as it swoops through the trees to create a melancholy chorus. An injured deer limps slowly through the forest, at the end of its life. With a broken leg and bloodshot eyes, the creature collapses in the snow where it remains. After one final, ragged breath, its heart stops beating and its life is extinguished like a candle blown out. Frozen droplets of blood cover the animal’s fur like rubies; icy diamonds coat its back. Snow continues to fall atop the dead animal’s form until it is no longer discernible from the surrounding land.
Nearby, a girl darts discreetly through the trees. She pulls her heavy, rough woolen coat closer to her neck as she moves along cautiously. Her face, chapped and red from the harsh winter wind, has an innocent, youthful quality. The girl’s salient, amber eyes are hidden under eyelashes covered in sparkling snowflakes. The winter runs its icy, ephemeral fingers through the girl’s hair, lifting and tugging at its black tresses. She pulls her hat further down over her ears, battling against the unassailable power of the arctic squalls. Showing no sympathy, the forceful gusts continue to tear at her clothing, which she holds onto in desperation. She forces herself to move faster, fleeting, worried looks passing across her face. The bitter wind seems to gain ferocity as she accelerates, biting at her eyes until tears blur her vision. As the howling momentarily dies down, a sound pierces through the desolate forest. The gunshot provokes fear in every cell of the girl’s body. Off in the distance, the girl can see where the black cloak of the forest opens to let the cool moonlight pour across the ground. Her body is numb as she hurtles toward her destination, desperation leaking into her being. Reaching the moonlit clearing, the girl rushes toward the fence on the opposite side of which lays a dark shape, curled on the ground. The snow surrounding the form is stained red and imprinted with footprints. The girl collapses, grief emanating from her being. Sorrow consumes her and she wails helplessly to the moon. On the other side of the fence, her brother lays less than four feet away, yet he is unreachable to her. His body is covered in a thin layer of sparkling diamonds and his frozen blood glitters like rubies.
