Zoe walked barefoot across the snow, feeling the cold slowly numb her feet, turning them a delicate shade of pink. Yellow daffodils poked through the snow, so vulnerable, basking in the blissful ignorance of not knowing that the cold will bring their inevitable demise. Xenophobia had always eluded her- how could anyone have such a paralysing fear of the thing that has an eternal symbolisation of happiness? Why were they so scared of something so warming, so loving, so... happy? Vanessa- a friend- had hated the colour yellow, thought it vile and overly bright, but Zoe loved the colour, adored it, even.
Up the hill at the end of the garden was a gravestone, painted with beautiful yellow flowers. The gravestone didn't mean anyone close to her had died- it was just her mother's reminder that every day innocent children die, and that people should respect them. So morbid, Zoe had thought, so she had decorated it with yellow flowers, and every now again she liked to come down this end of the garden and think about them. Rain now started to fall from the sky, and Zoe looked up, feeling the cool drops against her skin, feeling them refresh her closed eyelids- of course they were warm compared to the snow, which crunched against her feet, which were now warm. Quaint little flower pots surround her, and as she knelt down to look at them, she noticed how pale her bare feet were. Patting her feet, she felt how cold they were, and coloured pale shade of blue, like frost on her cherry tree at dawn. Obscure the flowers now seemed- she noticed now they were wilted, dying, so she picked them before walking inside.
Never had Zoe ever seen such a small kitchen as the one in her house. It was so small, she couldn't even turn around without knocking something over. Most people couldn't even function in a space like this, but Zoe and her family could manage. Looking over the counter, she reached for an empty glass jar and put the daffodils in them- to make their passing a little smoother. Kicking her foot at a table leg as she tried to walk out, she cried out in pain. Just the gentle wet trickle against her foot suggested it was bleeding, so she put on a plaster and went to her mother's work- a garden centre deep in the forest, acroos a twisty road- because, you know, logic- apparently tourists like it.
In the forest she felt the pine scent float through the air on the breeze, and brushed her hand against the prickly needles. Hot sunlight fell throught the delicate leaves, shattering the sunlight, and she felt the fragments dance against her skin, providing a warm contrast to the rest of the winter. Good, she thought- it's about time Spring comes. Floating across to the bridge across the ravine, she slipped and fell 30 feet into the freezing water, gasping to keep her head above the water, feeling the freezing water surround her lungs, felt hands pulling her down, pushing her against the rocks, she could barely keep her eyes open, the murky blue slowly turned black, and then she felt nothing...
Earth surrounded Zoe as she lay on the banks, slowly opening her eyes. Death had not taken her- she was alive! Conciousness must have left her, then she was probably washed up on the bank. But as she picked herself up, she couldn't feel any signs of dizziness or injury, which puzzled her, so she had decided to go and find her mother, when a man walked up to her.
"Adam," he said. "Zoe?"
"You know my name- how?"
"X-rays!"
"What?!"
"Valuable intelligence, you have- I was being sarcastic. Up on the hill, I saw you, and you were rambling- your name just happened to come up. Then- this happened."
"So- how come I haven't seen you around?"
"Right- you don't know. Quite special, you have to be to see me- not many people do. Please, let me help you up, but then I have to go- goodbye."
"Ok..."
No one could be that weird, thought Zoe. Maybe I should just head home.
Lookin through the window at home, she saw a police officer talking to her family, and they were crying- Zoe had probably been gone longer than she had thought. Kicking open the door, she ran through to the living room- her family didn't look up.
"...just so sad, really," the police officer was saying.
"I'm here!" she said "Hello, mum, dad?"
"Goodness knows what you must be going through. Found her clutching this dead daffodil- is is significant?"
Everyone was crying, but they just couldn't see Zoe.
"Dad, mum- I'm here?"
Crying, her parents didn't even look up- no one could see her. Backing out through the door, the crushing realisation on her shoulders, Zoe left her life behind.
