A motion of tying a scarf ‘round her neck.

She straps on her snow shoes,

Pulls on her puffer vest, the color blue,

The ceasing of the falling of snow is her cue.

She smiles at the winter wonderland before her.

She treads along the icy grounds,

Past the frozen trees and small mounds.

Searching for anything magical to be found.

Soon enough, she spots a small, yellow boat.

It’s bow is lodged in the...

Alone. I felt alone. I was alone.

I stepped onto the frozen ice. I let out a breath as steady as my rapid beating heart. I took another step forward and felt a tear freeze against my skin. I knew there was a great chance he would not make it back but everything inside of me told me he would. He had to. I needed him to.

I turned my head to the snap of a twig within the trees to either side of the...

The wind was a cruel thing on Lake Thorne in January. It cut through coats and skin and marrow, carrying whispers that might have been just air — or something older, more watchful.

Kiera pulled her wool cap lower over her ears and stepped onto the ice. A thin snow crust dusted its surface, swirling in tiny ghost-like eddies around her boots. Each step gave a faint groan. The sound was enough to qu...

Es war nicht die erste Nacht in der sie von Ethan träumte. Jedesmal wachte sie zitternd und schweißgebadet auf, und jedesmal weinte sie.

Ich stolpere in meinen dicken Wollsocken die Treppe runter. Limmi wedelt mit dem Schwanz und kläfft freudig. Fragt nicht warum sie Limmi heißt. Ich weiß es auch nicht. „Tammi?“ schreit meine Mum aus der Küche. Ich maule: „Was denn?“ „Lauf doch bitte mit Limmi n...

I just have to make it to the other side. This is the thought I keep telling myself. My feet are rooted to the side of the lake. Getting to the other side is more than just finishing this race I’ve involuntarily started. I didn’t choose to be here. I would not have wanted to be part of this but my family needs me to finish.

There have been so many tests and challenges in this race its almost r...

“ Amy” I screamed, I could not find her, AHHHH, I GOT STUCK IN THE WATER, help help help I scream. “Amy” I say, she was the one that pulled me in the water, “ look my dad brought me here and” she looked down, I saw her face get sad “ it’s ok” I said, you can tell me, I say, she says “ he drowned me in here and I am dead and so are you” she smiled, I scream in the water, nobody here’s me…....

On a dark blue evening when the night began its slow, inevitable descent, a young girl stepped gingerly onto a vast frozen lake. The surface, a mirror of the sky above, shimmered under a coating of delicate frost and a thin veil of fog. With each careful step, the ice creaked beneath her, as though murmuring secrets of its own—a symphony of ancient memories.

She clutched a small, worn object clo...

Every morning since Jenna went missing my eyes are glued to the news. Hoping today will be the day they find her or at least a sign that she is out there. Everyday the coverage is the same, they talk about her backstory they say she lit up the room, testimonies from other kids at school who pretend that they knew her. I was her only real friend. Her and I had been attached at the hip since we were...

It had been only a few weeks since Marcus died, my husband, and the father of our children, Lucy and Maybelle.

It had only been a few weeks, and another member of my family is gone. 8-year-old Lucy. She has been only missing for a few hours, but I sense something severely off about it.

I don’t know what to do, or what to think. All I do know is that it is a frosty cold winter—one of the co...

It was a kindness, her mother said, a kindness. He was getting too big for his bowl and they had to move house. He needed a bigger tank and they couldn’t have it at the apartment.

She used to put him on the windowsill in the house, so he could look out into front yard and see the trees and the people going by. She liked him to see the sun. He wasn’t an affectionate pet, never happy to see her but...