The forecast said it would be warm, but it felt as if the cold was creeping through my skin. I tried putting on all my clothes to preserve my heat, but it didn’t work. I lay in my makeshift bed as my shivers and shakes kept me awake. It felt as if the chill in the air was trying to steal my breath. I shot myself upright and walked out of the tent. I was hit by a sharp flooding chill, and the little heat I did have quickly fled from my body. The night was cold and young as I looked around to see the faint crescent of light still illuminating the far ends of the visible earth. The stars too were out but shone in a near invisible tone.

               I had gathered some wood earlier when I felt a turn in the weather. I piled them in a pit made by those before me, and I was able to make a smoky fire. I watched as the sky turned from a faint orange to black, and the stars from dim to sharp. I moved closer to the pit trying to keep myself from turning into ice. I kept putting in more wood, but as fog came, moisture seeped through everything in its path, and the logs became too wet to carry on the flame. With that, true darkness came.

               At first, it felt like the cold was making it hard for me to think. My body felt stiff, but I couldn’t stop from shaking. As my mind continued to numb itself, I tried to bring my attention to what was around me. I looked at the field that surrounded me, the trees that surrounded the field, and the fog that had decided to envelop both. I wish I hadn’t come on foot, that I had taken a road rather than a path. My clothes, all layered to wrap around me, started to feel wet. I thought of going back to my tent, but when I turned and looked at it, it looked empty and dead. It was too far anyway. I started picking out embers from the pit to hold, but they too had had their heat syphoned out of them.

               I clenched my body trying to hold myself tight. I closed my eyes and murmured for morning to arise. I supposed it worked; my body flushed with warmth without help from the sun, perhaps the weather finally took a turn. I took off a layer, then another, it felt as if I was burning up. I heard sounds of steps and chatter, but when I blinked they silenced. I looked up and tried to make sense of the bright dots. When I closed my eyes, I remembered. Like that, it no longer felt hot. It no longer felt cold either. I opened my eyes and the world felt frozen. I looked around and at the end of the field stood a fellow. He beckoned me to come, and I did.