Her breathing was calm and even, matched softly as if she was asleep, but that was not the case. The freezing wind blew across her face, burning her cheeks and stinging her eyes as she struggled to press forward, gloveless hands buried in the pockets of her brown leather jacket. Her boots crunched in the snow, wet leaves sticking to the shiny black leather as she closed her eyes, swirling snow pelting her face with every onslaught of wind Jack Frost sent her way, and although it was difficult to press on, her breaths came slow and perfectly matched.
She stopped, only ankle deep in the thick snow, being lightweight, and took her bow from her back. She used her bitten hands and attempted to use them in order to melt the frost that covered her metal black friend. Her frozen lavender tinted fingers ran over the bow, barely melting the snow, but as soon as it turned to water under her only slightly warmer temperature, a new layer of frost formed over it.
Tessa threw the bow in the snow, not worried about damaging it with the soft white ice. She slung her jacket off of her shoulders and, arms now bare in the icy blizzard wind and knelt on the snow next to the white bow, not even sinking slightly under the weight, leather jacket in hands. She carefully picked up the bow and it slipped from her fingers, which could no longer feel. It took her more than a minute to find it again, everything feeling the same under her fingers. She wrapped the bow in her leather jacket, keeping it shielded from the wind, and held it in a bundle close to her chest, keeping it working and warm rather than herself.
Tessa trekked on through the frozen field, wrapped bow across her chest, warm under the wind. Tessa clinched her teeth together, eyes closed, and leaned into the wind, making it easier to press on. She opened her eyes for only a second and only saw the lavender tint of her bare arms against the swirling white.
Tessa, exhausted and cold, fell to her knees in the snow and started digging. She bit down hard, keeping the determination in her and scooped hand after hand of snow out until she had herself a deep hole, the bottom being dry wet grass. Tessa leaned against the snow, sitting in the bottom of the hole, now shielded from the wind blowing behind her and unwrapped the bow, slipping her wet jacket back on. She set the bow on the grass and knelt on it, keeping it out of the snow.
She closed her eyes, lost and alone and burrowed into the snow wall to her left. As the wind drowned out the sound of her breathing the voices came back, and drifting in and out on consciousness, she fell into a semi-deep sleep.
*~*~*~*
Libby doubled over laughing at Tessa as her hands shook in the cold, pulling her colorful hat further over her head to keep her warm. Tessa laughed and tried to fix her scarf over her face like Libby’s, but the attempt was a major fail. They stood on the side of the road, watching cars pass and trying to fix their hats and gloves as the temperature dropped lower every second.
In between laughs Libby tried to instruct Tessa.
“Tess, wrap it like this!” she said, showing her by wrapping her own scarf around her face. Tessa laughed and tried to do the same, but her scarf wasn’t wide enough to cover her whole face. Libby finally just walked over and tied the strings on Tessa’s hat under her chin and tucked the ends of the scarf into the knots so it covered the most part of her face. After everything was situated Libby fixed her makeshift quiver over her shoulder and snatched her new bow up off of the ground. Tessa did the same, and trying to avoid odd glances from passing by cars, they made their way down the muddy path that led to the ponds.
Libby led the way, wrapped from head to toe in dark clothes, a brown scarf covering her face, leaving only her green/brown eyes showing. Her boots were laced with colorful yarn and a colorful hat covered her ears. A yellow and white bow was slung over her shoulder and a dark jacket hid her gloved hands. Tessa followed, bow slung over her shoulder as well and shook her head with a smile, letting Libby lead the way.
“Libby you look like a freaking bounty hunter,” she said, tucking her chin to her chest to avoid the day after Christmas wind. Libby just turned around to face her, bow visible and smiled.
“That’s cause I am!” she laughed and motioned for Tessa to hurry up as they trekked through the brown mud, water splashing against their fancy brown boots. Libby tucked her arms into her shirt, tying the ends of the sleeves off with Tessa’s help.
“I don’t think I’ve ever been this cold in my whole life,” Libby observed, trying to stay warm. Tessa shivered and thought about the freezing weather of her normally hot southern town.
“Dad said that one year it got down to 7 degrees,” Tessa told her as they made up their minds to stay along the roadside and head back home. Libby nodded.
“Yeah, that was the year the cows froze in the ponds,” she confirmed.
Neither of them had ever lived to see the temperature in their town drop below 20 and their bodies were not adjusting well to the new temperature this week had brought them. Tessa and Libby, bows on their backs, turned away from passing cars to avoid suspicion and ran across the road when it was clear, trying to get home so they could start a fire and warm up a little with some different coffee.
*~*~*~*
