Cold as Winter

Sara and Adam wave to me from my airplane seat, the Air Canada plane is far off from any civilians but my sharp eyes catch them in the parking lot. I wave back. Standing in front of their Lincoln MKT Adam takes Sara's hand in his as she leans on his shoulder. The only other person she shows any weakness in front of.

Don't worry, I'll keep in touch.

I'm going to miss you. Just don't straighten them out too much.

We use the pack link for the last time, as the international spacing will make it difficult.

I blow a kiss from the air and she reaches out to catch it and rests her fist against her heart.

The night before swirls in my mind as I pull the large seat back. The small figures of my family become tiny as the entire sky opens up to be traveled through.

Salene gave me a side bag for my books. A beautiful leather case with embedded flowers through the soft brown cover. She hugged me tight when my farewell party came to a close.

With only a week's notice everyone at school had taken it upon themselves to make american jokes and warn me about eating too much McDonalds. The youth of the pack, my friends, gave me trinkets to remember them by. A maple leaf charm bracelet from Sasha and a bottle of maple syrup from Jeremy and a couple of boxes of pancake mix from a grinning Mike who then gave props to Jeremy and a snowflake ring from Amanda, our previous goth transformed into a basketball star. The elders, our wiser counterparts, wished me well and gave me money and cards of best wishes.

Then at the end of the night Sara and Adam pulled me in front of everyone to say an official farewell on behalf of everyone. Sara pulled out a snowflake necklace and wrapped it around my neck. The diamonds glistened against my black silk top and I gave her a hug.

"In case you ever forget Winter Woods, or in case you get too hot, and just so you remember our times together. You are moving on now Maria and you are growing into a beautiful young woman. I am confident that you will bring even more honour and glad tidings to our pack. You are a powerful marker of change and I pray to God that you will be successful. Everyone in the pack wishes you all the best and we will always bring up your memories of our great fighter, trainer and sister." Sara said.

Adam then took the opportunity to warn me about mad cow disease and to avoid finishing off the American cattle. To this, everyone laughed and the saddened mood brightened again as the alphas moved to say good night to everyone.

I took the opportunity to say good bye.

The sunset sky smooths through my worries as I take in the beauty of the sky. To think this whole sky can be traveled through, and it is like a ceiling that is not held up by anything but the choice of God. To think that only in a few hours I will be in a new place, with new people. To think it is just one night away.