Cold

A frigid shock paralyzes me as I lay shivering in a white desert. A ramming wind bites my exposed face, peppering me with passing snow. I must move further, to somewhere.

Somewhere other than here.

But the prospect of any other place existing is beyond belief. To the horizon, I see nothing. Only slight ripples in the snow out to the black sky in all directions. Nothing breaks the level plain of this endless prison. But there are no bars here; no fences. The only guard is an uncaring Mother Nature. Her maternal instincts do not reach me here.

I’ve not seen the sun in weeks. Infinite darkness above me and a mocking white at my feet. Here, there is no hiding from this constant cold and wind. Digging down only exposes jagged rock and more snow. I am alone in a world devoid of life, light, time, and faith. The will to go on escapes with the heat from my body. I crawl – maybe inches at a time – across this snow and ice in an unknown direction until my energy expires.

There is nothing to move to, no point of reference.