In Ages

Chapter 1

I can't sleep, as usual. My brother and sister lay beside me swaddled in blankets, snoring softly, but no matter how hard I try to sleep I cannot. The silence doesn't calm me, it frightens me, as if something is out there. Plotting. Waiting. The cold bites at me, nipping at any bare skin, and I shiver, rubbing my gloved hands together.

Shuddering, I turn my gaze towards my remaining family. A brother and a sister, ages eight and five lying together wrapped in furry sheets. They seem peaceful, but I can see the cold of the wet snow seeping through, turning their lips slowly purple and blue. It shouldn't be like this; they're so young- too young. Little Jessie has long blonde hair spilling down her shoulders and to her waste; her bright blue eyes bold when she looks at you. She has the sweetest smile, eyes sparkling, lips curved, dimples showing. And then there's young Noah, with his unruly brown hair and wild green eyes. He's a bit on the chubby side, as seven year olds can be, but a charming boy who adores his little sister.

I look like neither of my siblings. Well, half siblings. I look like my dad, who me and my mother ran from when I was seven; nine years ago. He was abusive, beating my mother - and then me. I feel my hand subconsciously touch the long healed scar at the corner of my forehead, travelling up to my cheek bone, and then open my mouth to try and speak. I try it every night; to know avail. He damaged my vocal cords permanently and there's nothing I can do about it. I have my own little signs, to say I need help, to say I love someone, but no more. My mum put everything into getting my voice back but not teaching how to deal with life with none. I hate how I look. I look at myself and I see my father.

My hair is long and black; it tumbles down just past my shoulders in thick curls. My eyes are an icy blue and my skin pale; even paler now. I'm not tall, but not especially small; so I guess you could call me average height. I'm slimmer than most of my age. For a while I hated myself because of what I looked like, and how I couldn't speak, so I wouldn't eat. I tried to starve myself. No one noticed except my family, and my siblings pulled me out of it. I couldn't leave them with my mum who was unstable after our past.

Now, I'm glad I was never one to socialise. I just pushed people away; class mates, extended family, you name it and I wouldn't trust them. I couldn't risk it! At least I have no attachments. Just me, and my siblings. In the wild. In the snow. Sometimes I miss my mum. I remember her death all too well.

It was three weeks ago today when it started. The ice age.

It is the year 2100 and the ice age is here, much earlier than scientists anticipated. At first it was a huge snow storm, gusts and gales of winds. There were days I was woken up in the middle of the night by my brother or sister, or often vases cracking downstairs. My mum said it would pass but she was wrong. I woke up one day to a huge wailing scream and I leapt out of bed, running down the stairs, to find my mum dead. I was in time to see a snarling polar bear turn it's gaze to me; fur stained red with my mum's blood.
Panicking, I just watched the great beast slink out.
I don't want to talk about the state it left my mother in.
I'm sorry, mum. I'm sorry I didn't save you.
After that, I took off with my siblings. We packed a few rucksacks filled with water boilers and filterers and tinned food; not forgetting how we wrapped ourselves in all the warm clothing we could find. I was scared really, I didn't think about the consequences - certainly not the fact we would soon run out of food. I'm too young! I'm only sixteen myself. How can I be expected to handle the life of mine and my family in an ice age?
I don't know.
I just am.
My name is Alexis Secrah.
And I am scared.