Chapter 1

Jacobi struggled out of Winter’s grasp and playfully tripped her up, the little boy

laughing as he pounced on her from behind. Winter swept pale blond hair from her forehead, and

yelped, her eyes twinkling, brown in the shafts of sunlight filtering through the forest canopy.

The sun was beginning to set and already Winter knew that mama would be angry at her for

coming home so late.

“You go ahead of me, Cobi. I’ll go the long way today.”, the girl said, not quite as eager

to get back to her loving but cautious mother. She began to make her way back through the

crumpled path of leaves and twigs that led out of the small clearing. Winter shivered as the sun

receded even further beyond the horizon, but the faint smell of a campfire beckoned her on. She

closed her eyes for a moment letting her mind wander up the path to where mama and papa

would we waiting with the fire warm and dinner already on the table. As she opened her eyes she

realized that the sky had changed from a fiery orange to a cool indigo blue, right as she saw

lights coming up on the path. That’d be home then, Winter quickened her pace as the darkness

behind her intensified. Come on Winter, she thought to herself, 5 year olds aren’t scared of the

dark, only babies are. She began walking faster as she approached the end of the woods. As she

left the woods she reached a stretch of grass that led to the base of a hill. Winter smiled, once she

passed the hill she would be home. Her nerves eased as she reached the hill, but once at the top,

the sight that awaited her was far worse than anything that had lurked in the edge of her mind as

she had walked through the woods. The cottage was burned almost completely to the ground and

the acrid smell of scorched bodies filled the air. Winter took slow shaky steps towards the fiery

remains,

“Mama?” she called out, still hoping,

“Papa?...”

Panic filled her body as she ran towards the burning house. The beautiful cottage, which had

once been painted a brilliant shade of blue, was now collapsing in on itself. The white paint was

peeling off of the door in dingy grey ribbons that disintegrated into the pitch black sky. As

Winter took a shaky breath it all registered in her mind. Everything was gone. Her mama, her

papa, the beautiful house with flowers in the windows and dusty floorboards that groaned under

her bare feet. She had lost everything. Suddenly among the ash, a spark of color caught her eye.

Brushing tears out of her eyes she ran to the spot. There she was. Mama- and lying close enough

to touch, papa. Lana looked around. Where was Jacobi?