The boy, pale as snow, stepped out unto the ice. The winter had devoured the lake completely and he had ventured outwith the family home in Haute Vasque, only to gaze upon it with his own two eyes. The forests were a dying grey and white mixture, the world monotone about him. Deer and Elk seemed to dash through the forests and the boy had followed a beautiful doe all the way to the lake that was bordered only by a thick, dense treeline and large groves of assorted berry bushes which were just coming into bloom. His deep brown eyes rest upon the doe in amazement. A small giggle protruded from the child as he quickly raced across the frozen waters. The young boy slid across the thick ice, before finally falling down. A loud and horrifying cracking noise came from the ice that lay beneath him. He watched as the ice slowly split about him and he carefully stood himself.
The wind kicked up snow into his face every so often and threw him off balance from time to time as he tried to slowly step from the breaking ice and back to land. Finally, the doe that he had once been chasing raced past him. Another loud crack came yet again from the ice and broke the deathly silence before he found himself tipped backwards, falling as though the world about him had slowed down all but in a second. He watched as the snowflakes rushed past his field of view, then hitting the water with an enormous splashing sound. He remained still, if only for a moment from the shock of the freezing water upon his skin and flesh. He seized up for a moment before his arms flailed trying to keep him afloat and find the hole he'd fallen through.
Before he knew it, he was drifting off into slumber, beneath the ice and his hair swayed with him as he began to sink. He pictured faces, the faces of his cousins, his mother and father all at once as he fell into the frozen abyss that lay below. His eyes gazed up through the cracks, towards what light remained above him and his hand reached out to grab it, if only for a moment being able to close around the final few rays that pierced the thick, murky depths. Then, it all fell away.
Darkness surrounded him, every moment seemed to be drawn out as if they'd stopped for only a second and once again left him to fall. Shortly after he'd started sinking, he saw the face of a woman appear before him, gripping at his hand and pulling him slowly back into the light without so much as a sound being heard for the water about him. He was forced out of the water, freezing and half-alive. His skin had turned a faint blue from the ordeal and the winds weren't helping, the woman slowly clambering out and dragging him to the edge of the lake as she rest a blanket about him and huddled with him.
His eyes fell shut, he slowly lost consciousness and in the light of the next day, he reopened them to see only the face of his mother beside him, white as a sheet with her eyes opened wide and a faint smile plastered on her face. She had passed away during the night, lost to the cold and wet, having given her life for her dear son.
The boy let out a scream, sobbing and clutching the lifeless figure beside him from beneath his blanket. His right hand ran through her hair as he tried to wake her from her endless sleep. He shook at her, shouting only to try and wake her as the snow fell down upon them still. He soon realized the cold wouldn't hold back for as long as he remained there, taking her hand and planting a frosty kiss upon her cheek before letting a shaky breath protrude from his person. He slowly stood himself, the blanket had perhaps saved him for now, though he knew the walk would be long and hard. He knew that he would never see his mother again, that perhaps was the hardest part of it all, though he left but a flower upon her chest and folded her hands about it before resting the blanket over her body and trailing back into the forest for any signs of home.
He stumbled through the snow, grasping to the thick pine trees to keep himself upright. His knuckles turned white as he gripped each of the trees, dragging himself longingly towards home, towards warmth and safety.
His pale skin had become somewhat blue again as he trailed through the forest and as he reached the borders of Haute Vasque, he collapsed into the snow. His freezing and still features resting downwards into the frost and the ice. A woodcutter came across him, yelling out for help as he hoisted the boy up and unto his cart, taking him off and into the town before them. They came into the main square, the logger carrying the boy into his home and resting him in a bed before he stoked the fire and sent his daughter off to find the child's parents.
Hours passed as the boy slowly regained his senses, mumbling and sobbing about his mother still being out there, asleep in the cold and frozen stiff. His eyes only stared blankly up at the ceiling before the daughter returned with a large, bearded man who dropped to his knees at the bedside with a guardsman at his side. He felt the boy's face, the warmth had returned to his features and he had seemingly survived the ordeal. They brought the boy home in haste, only a few hours later for another cart to appear at the family home with the frozen corpse of the boy's mother on the back of it. The body was buried promptly after her husband had said his goodbyes and uttered prayer for his wife's safe travels on The Great Way.
All at once, the world had become a cold, harsh place where only the forest creatures might survive in the savage, unforgiving weather. The boy stood over the grave only days later, after having recovered from the whole ordeal and through his mind ran the thoughts 'What if?' a question that would surely scar him for life, no matter how long that life may be.
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