SOUL

the frozen pond

January 24th, 2008

She was standing on the edge of a frozen lake, the wind biting at her cheeks, the cold seeping through her bones. The sky above was a pale, washed-out gray, and everything was eerily silent. She could see a figure out on the ice, walking carefully, but the moment she realized who it was, her heart dropped. It was Leo.

His breath was visible, misting in the frigid air, and he was moving cautiously, testing each step. The ice beneath him looked thin, cracks spreading out like spiderwebs, and Marigold wanted to scream, to warn him to get off the lake, but she couldn't. Her voice was trapped in her throat, and all she could do was watch, powerless.

Then, she saw it—the ice under Leo's feet gave a loud, ominous creak, and before he could react, it shattered. He plunged through the surface, the freezing water swallowing him up in an instant. Marigold's vision blurred, and she felt as though she was the one falling, her body submerging into the icy depths, the cold squeezing the air out of her lungs.

She saw Leo thrashing, his hands clawing at the ice, trying to find something to hold on to. Panic surged in his eyes, and Marigold could feel his desperation, his fear. She wanted to reach out, to grab him, to pull him to safety, but her hands passed right through the vision, useless.

The water was dark, and it dragged him down, his struggling growing weaker as the cold numbed his limbs. The surface above him began to freeze over, sealing him beneath, and the last thing she saw was his face, pale and still, his eyes staring up at her through the thickening ice.

"No!" Marigold screamed.

Marigold awoke with a start, her chest heaving as she struggled to catch her breath. The room was still dark, the first hints of dawn barely beginning to creep through the curtains. She sat up, rubbing her eyes, trying to shake off the remnants of sleep. But then, like a tidal wave, the vision hit her—sharp, vivid, and unrelenting.

She was back in her bed, her blankets tangled around her legs, her skin clammy with sweat. The morning light was starting to peek through the window, but it did nothing to chase away the chill that had settled deep inside her.

She clutched her head, trying to steady herself, but the image of Leo under the ice kept flashing before her eyes, haunting her. It felt too real, too vivid to be just a nightmare. She knew better—she had learned to trust her visions, even when they terrified her. 

She threw on a jacket, slipped into her boots, and bolted out the door. She didn't care that she was barely dressed for the cold, or that her hands were still trembling from the vision. She just needed to find Leo, to warn him before it was too late.

The icy wind whipped against her face as she ran to his house, her breath coming out in ragged puffs. She knew where she had to go—she remembered the pond from the vision, the way the ice had creaked beneath Leo's feet. She didn't know why he would go there, but she had to trust her instincts.

She ran up to the door and knocked frantically, trying to catch her breath as she waited. It felt like an eternity before the door creaked open, and she was met with the stern, weathered face of Leo's father, Rory James.

"Mr. James," she said, her voice breathless and urgent, "I need to see Leo. Is he here?"

Rory looked at her with a frown, his eyes narrowing slightly. "No, he's not. He left about an hour ago," he said, his tone calm but firm. "Why? What's this about?"

Marigold felt her stomach drop. "Do you know where he went?" she asked, her voice shaking. "It's really important."

Rory's expression softened slightly, but he still looked puzzled. "He said he was heading out for a walk. Wanted to clear his head, I suppose. I told him to be back around noon."