1 In a Yellow-Lit Room (1/2)

In the middle of winter, the woods were quiet. The river had frozen over and all of the small animals were tucked into their nests and burrows, sleeping away in the cold night. A soft snow was falling on a wooden lodge in a clearing. Two lights shone brightly at the front of the house, illuminating the front door. Inside, the lodge was dark: all the lights had been turned off for the night, save for the one in a bedroom on the second floor.

In the yellow-lit room, a child was hunched over on the edge of a soft bed. The little girl was trying to run a comb through her thick black hair. Her hands tugged hard at the wooden comb.

As she struggled with the tangles on her head, a dark shadow loomed over her. A thin white hand reached out, hovering over the innocent little head.

”Aaah!” the little girl gasped.

The pale white hand clutched the wooden comb on the girl's head. A long arm wrapped itself around the girl's thin shoulders, holding her in a pale embrace.

”Grrrr,” the girl growled, as she tugged at the wooden comb, turning away from the hold that had closed itself around her.

The child seemed to struggle. She had closed her eyes when the arm went around her shoulders. She opened them again and her eyes had turned from a warm brown to a hard gold in color. A feral expression took over her sweet face. She let out a soft growl and her little baby teeth grew into little baby fangs.

The shadow laughed softly and only held her down harder. The little girl felt the laughter fill the soft space in the yellow-lit room as the arms around her tightened. There was nothing else but the sound of soft laughter in the cold, dark night and the arms wrapped around her, dragging her into darkness.

BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP

Ash's eyes shot open at the sound of the alarm. Her breathing was ragged and she backhanded the button on the beeping alarm clock, shutting out the incessant sounds. A soft snow was falling outside, she could see it from the window.

She always had the same little girl dream on the night of the first snow fall. For the last ten years, she had had the same yellow-lit dream for one night, and every single time she had woken up at the exact moment just when the arms tightened around her.

”It's snowing, Ashy!”

Ash, looked up at the top bunk, and she could see a pair of socked feet making their way down the ladder. The tall girl stood in front of the window and partially blocked the view from the outside. The faint light from the window seemed to illuminate her short blonde hair. Her roommate, Celia, stretched on her tiptoes in front of the window. She was still looking out at the snow fall when she asked,

”Did you have the dream again?”

”Yes,” Ash replied stiffly. She was still lying down in her bed, covered in her blanket.

”Same as last time?”

”Yes. The same as every time.”

Celia sat down on the foot of Ash's bed, leaning against the bunk bed ladder. It was early still. The faint morning light slanted away from the bunk bed toward the opposite end of the room, leaving the two girls under a comforting gray canopy of shade. In the shadow of the bottom bunk, the two girls sat companionably in a moment of peaceful silence. Finally, Celia spoke.