I heard a ruffle behind me, Storm my German shepherd is barking and jumping. She loves the snow, when she was a puppy she was obsessed with water, no surprise that she pounced on the snow like she does with her companion, Eli a year young than her. I shrugged at the footprints outside, probably my dad going out to see deer. I closed the door and was walking through the garage when I spotted Eli with the same worn out rubber ball in his mouth.

“Hi Eli,” I said is my most pupiest voice while I brisked my hands over his thick fur, “Storm is waiting for you outside, by now she probably caught a rabbit.” But the baby stayed inside and followed me through the kitchen door. “Hi grandma,” “hi Giselle, your aunt called, no school today, snow and ice blocks all the road.” No surprise really, 4 feet of snow covered everything. “Ok thank you for telling me” with that I walked into my room and put on my wool coat, grabbed my headphones and walked out of the kitchen trying to connect my phone to my headphones. Once the headphones were connected, I turned on my favorite playlist, which were mostly One Direction and a handful of Olivia Rodrigo, Billie Eilish, Niall Horan and Harry Styles. A powerful playlist of my highs and lows. Ahh, “Sign of the Times” started playing and I started singing along softly so no one would hear me. In the garage I grabbed my bow and slung my arrows across my back while I called Storm into the garage. She knows not to get in between me and the target, but I can’t risk; we left everything to live with my grandma, the dogs were fortunate enough to come with us. I was 30 feet away from the bullseye, I pulled out my glove and touched the snow. The physical object of cold felt numb and lovely, and suddenly “Story of my life” started playing, I thrive in the cold, that thought harmonized perfectly with the song, it makes me feel home, like my childhood. I pulled a eyepatch from my coat, since I can’t close my left eye, the eyepatch improves my accuracy in shooting. I took out the clip in my hair, my brown hair flowed down to my stomach and held my bow to my chin. I breathed a deep breath, I thought about the target and-

Bam… silence… the arrow went dead center, a perfect shot.

“I spent 4 months with you, still you never disappoint” A voice from behind made me turn around slowly, taking my headphones off and with a smug smile, I said,

“I still have to stay sharp”. “Everything is set, you ready?” Jake asked moving closer. “Once this starts, there is no going back”. “I know, but someone needs to do it” I said with certainty and assurance.

“I am ready.”