The Iceberg Tipping
Beautiful.
Beautiful. A single word to describe the delicate way that she spun around on the thin ice. The same word used on a daily basis to describe her dainty features. It was the way her dark hair settled around her face in cool, unmistakable waves and the way her eyes were the frostiest shade of blue any one had ever seen. Her rugged boots made smooth, nonexistent imprints in the slowly melting ice and her eyes stayed closed. For just a second she lost her balance; lost her cool. For just a second her stomach was floating inside her throat and she felt as if she were falling. She could see it in her mind, the blood, the horror. Her eyes closed tighter as she lost the feeling in her throat, instead a lack of breath making her keel half over and hold an arm around her stomach. When she finally opened her eyes, she was still on both feet, in the middle of her custom pool of thin ice. Her eyes scanned the area, feeling goosebumps attack her flesh and her heart beat sickeningly fast. More than anything, in that moment, she wished that the scene in her head was real. She wished herself dead, or incredibly hurt at the very least. She wished the worst upon herself, but slipped carefully to the edge of the danger and crawled out alive.
indent Thinly gloved hands pulled the hat off the top of her head, and it no longer felt like she was suffocating. Cold breezes shuffled thin hair into the air and then back against her scalp and snow melted into her thick jeans as she sat against the bank. Inhaling and exhaling was all she knew how to do as she stared out over the open area. As white as everything was nothing seemed innocent and she couldn’t stand it anymore. Her head spun with what ifs. What if something had happened? What if I had thrown myself off balance on purpose. No, she would have just looked like a fool then, a fool with an aching back and nothing more. What if the odds weren’t in her favor, however?
indent She closed her eyes, but the dying light still reflected off of the untouched snow and made itself known beneath her eyelids. Ever so slowly, she pushed herself up and spun in one last haphazard look around the place. Leaving was always the easy part, she knew. Staying would have proven itself difficult, especially when it became too cold with the absence of the sun and only the moon as her friend. She would have thought more and more. She would have become paralyzed with cold. She would have died, blood frozen inside of her veins and words still stuck in the bottom of her throat. There would have been regrets, but there would always be regrets. The longest and hardest roads, though, are always the ones that leave you better off, her logic stated.
indent She shuffled her feet in the direction of home, graceful and beautiful as always. Her head still a mess and her fingers shaking with unfulfilled wishes and secrets she should have never told.
indent Thinly gloved hands pulled the hat off the top of her head, and it no longer felt like she was suffocating. Cold breezes shuffled thin hair into the air and then back against her scalp and snow melted into her thick jeans as she sat against the bank. Inhaling and exhaling was all she knew how to do as she stared out over the open area. As white as everything was nothing seemed innocent and she couldn’t stand it anymore. Her head spun with what ifs. What if something had happened? What if I had thrown myself off balance on purpose. No, she would have just looked like a fool then, a fool with an aching back and nothing more. What if the odds weren’t in her favor, however?
indent She closed her eyes, but the dying light still reflected off of the untouched snow and made itself known beneath her eyelids. Ever so slowly, she pushed herself up and spun in one last haphazard look around the place. Leaving was always the easy part, she knew. Staying would have proven itself difficult, especially when it became too cold with the absence of the sun and only the moon as her friend. She would have thought more and more. She would have become paralyzed with cold. She would have died, blood frozen inside of her veins and words still stuck in the bottom of her throat. There would have been regrets, but there would always be regrets. The longest and hardest roads, though, are always the ones that leave you better off, her logic stated.
indent She shuffled her feet in the direction of home, graceful and beautiful as always. Her head still a mess and her fingers shaking with unfulfilled wishes and secrets she should have never told.