I already knew, when I heard small feet trailing on the dry leaves she was behind me. She always had the same rythm, the self same sound coming from the crumpling forest foliage. I'd known those footsteps anywhere, I'd grown accustomed to the melody. The sun shone on the wide clearing, a little warm open cove in the midst of a frosty grove. I could see the far away mist down the hill meeting the city roofs, red and stuccos floating in a sea of silver. ''I missed you'' I gritted through cold lips. ''Uhm'' she'd carelessly replied. I did not tell her, but I missed her stupidity.