Work Text:
The chill of the night ran bone deep through my body, so cold I could see my breath, and would have sworn it turned to ice midair. It may have been June, but mother nature didn’t get the memo, as the entire world seemed coated in a heavy blanket of ice and snow. The air was deathly still, not a single animal making a noise, or the distant sounds of the city carrying at all in the summertime winter wonderland.
This wasn't the first time I had drifted so far from home. There were many times when I was younger that I would go exploring on my own and not return for days on end, but during those times I was always warm, always prepared. Now it seemed that there would never be a way to return, and that the world would never allow me the sweet release of a warm home again.
I continued forward, only vaguely noting that I was still wearing nothing but a pair of jeans and a tank top, despite the darkness of the word around me, and the chilly moonlight above. When it had turned from day to night I couldn't say - I wouldn’t have even been able to tell you how long I had been wandering. There was something bout how still everything was that made time slip through my fingers like sand through the waves.
After what felt like ages and yet absolutely no time at all, I came to the lake. It was a fairly small lake, all things considered. Only a stone’s throw across from any side of the bank, and rarely with enough wildlife to maintain more than one or two ducks, and a handful of bullfrogs. Still, it was rare to see it so statuesque. Even in the dead of winter, there was always something moving here. Some animal briefly taking a rest from hibernation to stretch their legs, or some reptile or fish making their way through their short life cycle. But there was nothing - not even the rustle of wind through the cattails.
In the blink of an eye - yet somehow a millennia - I had gone from standing a fair distance from the pond to standing right on the bank, then in the center of the pond, the ice creaking under my weight, but still holding. I looked down, expecting to see the faint hints of life I always did, only to nearly fall in surprise.
My reflection showed back, pale and glittering between the moonlight and the smooth but cracking ice, but I was not the one staring back.
A loud crack later, and there was no one staring back at all.