The Owl

Chapter One

Chapter One

As Thomas walked down the snowy road the air nipped at any exposed skin. He pulled his thin brown cloak closer around him in an attempt to shield himself from the bitter wind. The cloak did little, but it did provide a small barrier in between himself and his icy surroundings. The more he walked the more his frozen feet pained him, but he could not stop his journey because he still had at least a half a day of walking before he reached his destination.

He knew the area well and he knew that he would soon pass from underneath the shelter of the barren trees. Beyond the trees he knew that he would be able to rest for a few moments by a pool of spring water. He would have to break the ice to reach the cold water beneath it, but the effort would be worth it for a drink. He had not had anything to eat or drink since early in the morning when he had set out on his final day of walking.

He passed from under the trees as he had predicted, and saw the pool under the rocks from which the water sprang. Nothing was unexpected about the sight. The water was frozen, the banks were snow-covered, and the sky was gray overhead just as Thomas knew they would be. There was only one thing out of place amongst the scene, just one thing that was not supposed to be there. There was a girl in a cloak of a deep blue color wrapped around her standing on the ice a little ways from the bank. Thomas knew that if she took another two steps the ice would crack under her weight because that was where the water was deepest and the ice was not thick there as it was in the shallower areas on which she stood. The girl took one more step before Thomas could get a warning out of his mouth.

"Stop! Get off the ice!" he shouted. He had gained the girl's attention, but too late to stop her from taking another step further onto the ice. The ice gave a terrible cracking sound and a look of terror crossed the girl's face as she came to realize what was happening. She tried to scramble back to the bank, but instead disappeared beneath the ice with a shriek. Thomas ran forward, casting away his leather satchel in the process. He tore his cloak off and left it beside his satchel.

He quickly worked his way on the ice, and was terrified that the ice would crack under his weight sooner than it would have the girl's. When he reached as far out as he dared, he dropped onto his belly and slithered to the hole left by the girl's disappearance. He looked into the gap in the ice and could see the girl's pale face below him. Her eyes were wide with fear and she did not move, but only blew frantic bubbles of air from her small nose and her lips that now looked blue. Her brown eyes closed lethargically and he knew that he did not have much time before she left this world for the next. He wished he had time to make a bigger area so he was less likely to become trapped beneath the ice, but he had no time.

Thomas took a deep breath and prepared himself for the pain that would follow. Not once did he consider letting the girl drown. It would have been a lot easier. He could have left and no one would have even known he had been there. He didn't have to put himself through the pain of the freezing water. There was already a good chance that the girl would die anyway, but there was also the chance that she wouldn't. Thomas dove into the water without a second thought.

The pain that enveloped his body was a kind that he had felt only once in his lifetime when he had fallen into a frozen lake near his village. That time he had his brother to pull him out, this time he didn't. The feeling of one thousand red-hot knives poking and prodding him was almost enough for his body to give up the entire endeavor. There was the little part of him that told him that the girl would certainly die, along with himself, if he didn't move at that very moment. He plunged deeper into the water and wrapped his hand around the girl's skinny arm and pulled her body so he could hold her waist. He had one arm wrapped around her tiny waist and the other was pulling towards the surface. He fought the urge to stop fighting and just let the water consume him. His lungs were screaming for oxygen when his head broke the surface of the water.