Waving Through A Window

Snow, Wind, Ice and Silence

A simple trip down the mountain and back
That's all it should have been
Just a bit of exercize
To feed her cabin fever
A mile down
A mile back
It should've been easy for Violet
But the weather wouldn't allow it

The clouds rolled in
Dark and menacing
Threatening to drop things more deadly than snow
The wind picked up too
Cutting through her like a knife
Despite the attempts of her coat to ward off attacks
And her feet were wet
From stepping in a puddle a while back

Violet was regretting her decision
Why had she thought leaving her cabin was a good idea

It started to hail now
She just wanted to give up
Right then and there
But staying in the cold would do nothing more
Than hinder her further
If she stopped
She certainly wouldn't be getting up again

Finally
Her home was in sight
Her fingers were blue
And her teeth chattered non-stop
But she was close
She took another step forward
And faltered
Falling on her knees in the foot deep snow

The cold ground drained her energy
The longer she stayed
The more it took
The wind tried to steal her hat
Playing with strands of raven hair
Making them dance around her face

Her house wasn't far now
No more than 200 feet
But those 200 feet
Seemed like 200 miles

It was tempting to stop
Lay down in the snow
And make some sort of sick snow angel of death
For life seemed to be ever fleeting

But she didn't
She continued to trudge forward
On hands and knees
Snowflakes swirling around her

The hail was ever persistent
Growing in size
And beating down on her

Each movement was a dying breath
Everything was a reminder
Of how cold it was
How loud it was

The wind whirled around her
Whispering tempting thoughts of surrender
Give up, give up, give up...

Every snowflake screamed of abandonment
Stop trying, stop trying, stop trying...

Every chunk of ice yelled of failure
You lost, you lost, you lost

It was loud
It was all so loud
Loud
Loud
Loud

Everything was against her
She was drowning in the snow
It grew steadily higher
It would bury her before sunset

She needed to get her mind off the noise

She needed to focus on something other than the discouragement of the wind
Give up, give up, give up...

The constant chatter of the snow
Stop trying, stop trying, stop trying...

And the lies of the ice
You lost, you lost, you lost

She continued forward
Longing silence
For some sort of peace
And quiet

And then
Her frozen hand
Met wood
The wood of the steps to her porch
She had made it
She hadn't even noticed

Three steps
That's all there were
Three steps
To the top
Three steps
That seemed like mountains
They loomed above her
And she sighed in defeat

See...?
The wind hissed
Weaving itself around her

I told you...
The snow teased
Weighing down her back

Impossible...
The ice said
Taunting from a far
But she wouldn't have it
She took a deep breath
And lifted an arm
And pulled herself up
One step at a time

The first step was the worst
The snow tried to hold her captive
Wait...
It seemed dismayed
The wind tried to pull her back
Where are you going?
It seemed confused

The second step wasn't much better
The snow wasn't having it
Get back here!
It demanded
The wind wouldn't let go
You think you can leave?
It's voice rung harshly in her ear

Her shoelace got stuck as she tried to get to the third step
Ha
Icicles hung dangerously overhead
You're stuck
It seemed pleased with her trouble

Her hand shook as she reached down
Shakily undoing the laces
And shoving the boot off her foot
Before continuing up

You can't do that
The icicle screeched

The wind
Shrieked
The snow
Yelped
And the ice
Bawled

It was loud
It was all so loud
Loud
Loud
Loud

But she ignored it

She was panting
When she reached the top
Collapsing under the shelter of the porch
She stared at her boot in the snow
Watching as it was buried quickly
If the snow couldn't have her
Her boot would have to suffice

And she drug herself
Across the wooden planks
Cringing as they groaned
Under her weight
To lean against the side of her house

She could see the fire
Flickering from inside
And just wished
That's where she was
But she wasn't

And while she was free
From the snow
And the ice
The wind remained steady

Even by itself
It was loud
It was all so loud
Loud
Loud
Loud

It swooped underneath the roof
Wrapping its wintry wisps around her
And refusing to let go

You won't win, you won't win, you won't win
It's ruthless voice was persistent

And for a second
She believed it

She exhaled
And gave up

And she let the wind
Squeeze her

Tighter
And tighter
Louder
And louder

Until

A dog barked
Her dog barked
Lucky
Her husky
He scratched at the door
She somehow heard it
Over the voice of the wind

And she could breathe again
And she smiled
And she stared out at her footprints
As they were slowly being filled in
And with what little energy she had left
She twisted
And opened the door

A wave of warmth
From the fire
Overtook her
And renewed her

She practically threw herself in her house

And wind slammed the door behind her
Hurling one last thought of despair
As a parting gift
This doesn't mean you've won...

But all Violet could process
Was the sound

It wasn't loud anymore

And she burst out laughing
Tears running down her cheeks
As Lucky licked her face

It
Was
Quiet

Now, as the heat filled her
And she slumped over next to the fire place
She lay on her back
Next to the flames
With only one shoe

And she watched
The clouds
And the snow
And the wind
And the ice

And it was silent