Fire and Ice

Fire and Ice

by S.E. Wallace


Snow.
Pure, fluffy, inviting.
Drifting lazily. Landing softly.
Transforming the barren, brown landscape.
Bare branches crowned by winter white.

The Sun.
Fiery, distant.
Burning anything that stands too close for too long.
It hides its harsh brutality,
masquerading as a cooling wind.

The breeze whirled and danced, kissing the snow,
and was welcomed into the snow's softness...
covered in diamonds, and wrapped in love.

But the Sun lay in wait.
At first, it only caressed the snow with its warmth.

Responding, the snow moved closer and held tighter,
assuming that it was loved all the more.
Joyous in its vulnerability, the snow gave itself fully to the Sun.
Loving, trusting, unafraid.

When the snow felt itself begin to melt,
it reached out to the cooling breeze for rescue.

But it could not answer.
It had only been a façade.

With that sad discovery the snow's hope was gone.
Betrayed, humiliated, defeated.
Each tear shed turned to ice.
Building one upon the other, the icicle grew...
harder...colder...

until the Sun melted its very foundation and it fell...
piercing the remnants of the snow.
Shattering on the ground.
Tears and love, irrevocably joined in the death of a heart.