Are we out of the woods?

Chapter Twelve

I initially thought of doing 13 chapters ( Taylor style 😉 ), but this one was getting way too long so I decided to split it in two. You have no idea how much your votes and comments mean to me, I really hope you enjoy this chapter. Thanks for staying <3

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It was cold.

The coldest winter Taylor could remember.

A freezing wind blew from the north, hitting her skin as if millions of needles were stinging into her cheeks. Her eyes felt teary, her eyelashes half closed trying to keep out the small snowflakes running towards her in a mad dance, dragged around by the same gusts that swept through her hair.

She wore nothing by a light jacket made out of deer skin and her skirt was too short, ending by her knees and leaving part of her skin exposed. The icy bite of the wind stung against her legs, sending shivers and pain all along her body as one after the other her feet kept moving towards home.

The snow reached her ankles and, as she walked, she could hear her boots cracking through the thin ice layer that the cold had created during the night. That meant she was the first one walking down that part of the woods that day.

The sun had just rose, and up in the sky, over the bare tree branches, she could see its pale rays making their way through the whiteness of the heavy clouds. A small warmth breaking into a cold and forgotten universe.

Everything around her was white, from the snow falling over her clothes to the log of the trees.

Those trees shouldn't be growing here.

She thought passing her hand over them.

It's too cold for them here in the north.

The trees were cold as dead bodies. Maybe that's just what they were, forgotten skeletons from a past spring.

She shook her head and kept walking, her feet freezing in her tight little boots. The path she was following was hidden underneath the snow, but she knew the way.

It was the first thing her mother had taught her when they had put their camp there. She had to always knew how to come back. It didn't matter the conditions, if snow covered the track or rain turned it into a small stream, she always had to know the way home.

Another gust of wind sent snowflakes in her blonde hair, now shining for all the snow stuck in them. Soon it would have melted and if she wouldn't have been by a fire by that time she would have become sick. Something you would have wanted to avoid, especially during winter.

She tried to find some warmth by hiding her face in her jacket, but the piece of cloth was starting to get to little for her and it was already a miracle that she was able to close the bottoms in the front.

She then tried to shake off the snow, paying attention to not lose the berries she was carrying in her basket.

Red berries. A strike in the eye in all that white surrounding her.

It's not the right time of the year to pick up berries.

Whispered a voice in her mind, but the girl didn't listen to it.

She kept walking towards home, towards the warmth of a fire. She could already imagine how it would have felt to put her hands towards one of the bright flames, finally feeling again her fingertips.

Maybe Liz is going to give me a pair of gloves in exchange for some of my berries.

The thought brought a smile to her face as she hurried her steps.