Feathers of Snow

One- The Cabin

Feathers.

Like cold floating feathers the snow came down, blanketing the surrounding area in a soundless pillow. There was no biting wind, but in spite of the peaceful morning the cold was unbearable on her frigidly numb fingers. For the last seven months she had lived in the mountains, but she still forgot her gloves almost every morning. Living alone had given her time to think and separation from many things, including a social life. As much as she did miss that, she felt she needed this time to be alone.

Her footsteps crunched through the snow, which was the only sound in the otherwise silent forest she walked through. For a moment, she stopped. The utter silence was incredible. If she had been living anywhere else, she couldn't have experienced this. Her breathing and heartbeat were the only sounds she could hear. Here, she was clear and calm. She sighed and turned around and looked back in the direction of her cabin. It was about a mile away, but everything felt farther away in the snow, especially in heavy snow boots. The heavy gray winter coat she was wearing was starting to gather snow on the shoulders and caught little flakes of snow in the faux fur rimming the hood. Her shoulder length hair peeked underneath her soft jawline and out of the hood, framing her round face and pale skin, and her nose and cheeks were flushed from the cold. Smile lines appeared at the corners of her eyes even though she was only twenty-one.

She carried on down the mountainside toward the small cabin in the approaching distance, her small feet clad in dark grey snow boots and black rain pants. The cabin slowly came into view along with the lake that sat beside it. It was a small, bright blue alpine lake surrounded in a crown of mountains. As she got closer, the weathered planks of the cabin came into focus and one of the windows facing her had white curtains and a very big orange and white cat lazing in the windowsill, waiting for her. She smiled and walked a smidge faster, driven by the small twinge of hunger in her stomach and the softness of her cat's fur; his name was Oliver. The trees surrounding the area became thicker as she came closer to the cabin, and the cabin disappeared into the trees. As she entered the thick ring of trees before the clearing of the lake, she heard the trickling of the outlet stream that flowed down the mountain.

Walking across the edge of the lake, she went up the steps to her porch, admiring the sturdy walls of the cabin. The covered porch had an old rocking chair on it that she sat in to take off her boots before going in. After removing her boots she smacked them together as her toes clad in her dark compression socks felt grossly unprepared for the cold. She shivered before hurriedly opening the door. With a welcoming mewl, Oliver stepped from the windowsill, his gigantic body stretching. He walked to her and rubbed his long flanks against her wet rain pants as he blinked slowly at her. "Hi sweetheart," she said, "Did you have a nice nap?" He didn't reply of course, but he did ask for pets on the head as he jumped up and put his paw on the left side of her waist as she removed her heavy coat. She laughed and pet him. She moved to put the coat up onto one of the wooden pegs that held her scarf and her gloves. The cabin held a very warm and comforting glow. She set her boots down next to the fireplace in the corner closest to the door and began the removal of her wet rain pants. Oliver's pink nose had little freckles on it and so did the inside of his ears and he looked up at her with bright glittering green eyes.

The long johns she was wearing under her rain pants were dry and a baby blue, and her long socks came up to her mid calf. The cabin was warm enough to be comfortable and it wasn't too terribly hot, even though to her cold hands it felt like little needles were poking her. It smelled of cedar, lavender and fresh laundry detergent. In the left corner of the house was a small 'L' shaped kitchen. Above the sink on the left wall there was a window that showed part of the lake and the small stream with a bridge over it to a truck with a snow plow attachment in front of it. Tomorrow she would have to get groceries, and she loved interacting with the people in the town below her. Most of them thought she was stupid for living where she did but she always made sure to make bi-weekly trips around the same time to go to the store, and Billy, the store owner always made sure that if she wasn't there when she said she would be she would never hear the end of it. Not to mention she had a cellphone and WiFi so she could watch Netflix or call the police if something bad happened.