Frozen Heartbeat (short story)

Frozen Heartbeat

The ice had cracked as long as Anna could remember. Her mother said it was because the ice was moving under its surface. It never occurred to Anna how something as still as ice in a bay could move. As children do, she pretended to believe the reasons that adults gave to make the world seem boring and reassuring. She had imagined hundreds of reasons why the ice made that noise: a fairy kingdom with magic sounding like fireworks, trolls building tunnels, horses and unicorns galloping... She considered the last one a little bit unrealistic: they would slip, fall on the ice and get hurt.

She explored the ice every day, searching for hidden kingdoms and mysterious creatures. On her skates, she would find new places and adventures every day.

Then, one day, she discovered something interesting. There was a crack in the ice. As she looked down, she fell into it.

After she regained consciousness, her whole body hurt, but that wasn't for nothing as she was about to prove everyone wrong. She had seen a giant ice dragon sleeping peacefully a few meters away. It had its tail wrapped around it as her cat usually did. It was the most wonderful thing she had ever seen. It glimmered from the inside, casting a soft light upon them. As her body grew cooler, she couldn't look away. She listened to its heartbeat echoing in the crack and her body. Then, her tired eyes closed and the pulsation filled her ears.