*scratches head* I don't really know what inspired this. I tend to think a lot when I'm on the bus to and from college, and this morning I was thinking about snow, but then this little jewel of an idea popped into my head.
I might continue this...depending on the reviews...
Winterlight
The figure walked, worry and regret weighing down his brave spark. He carried a deep sadness within him, a terrible guilt that threatened to engulf him, a fear that was bubbling just below the surface. But still, he walked. A day, maybe a week, perhaps a year. He didn't know how long. It felt like eternity.
He had walked so far now. Daring to look back, he realised he could no longer see where he had started out. The lush grass beneath him had slowly turned to dense woodland, and that eventually became snow. The whiteness glittered and gleamed, growing dazzling with the midday glare of the cold sun. Tiny flakes danced and twirled in the twist of air that caught them, the wind causing the snow on the ground to skitter over itself, like sand in a desert.
He shivered. His tiny form was speckled with white, the red and blue slowly disappearing under the white flakes, the silver metal was rapidly losing heat as night rolled in.
He made no sound in the stillness of winter; only the light padding of his feet could be heard as he walked on. He looked up. Slowly the moon rose, a spidery orb between the abundant branches of the trees. The velvet blackness of the night sky was obscured as the trees twisted together overhead, their bare branches sheathed in ice and snow. The icicles that hung off their limbs sang as the earth breathed its howling breath, their chiming music echoing across the land.
He was so tired. So cold. So alone. He could feel his energy draining with every step. He knew he had to find help. But where? He didn't know where he was.
His legs buckled under him and he hit the frozen ground hard. He didn't even attempt to get up. He was too tired to even bother walking again. He curled up into a tight ball, feeling himself become a frightened child as the snowfall increased.
Small sobs escaped him, and he screwed up his eyes to stop himself from crying. But despite his weak efforts, the tears fell. They left freezing tracks down his face, and he began to shiver uncontrollably.
Please. He prayed silently as he saw darkness creep into the edges of his vision. Please, someone, anyone help me. Please Primus, do not abandon me. Please...
The woman walked. It was early in the morning, just after one, but for some reason, she had woken suddenly and couldn't get back to sleep. She felt an unquenchable desire to take a walk.
A walk always did her good, and snow relaxed her. It was beautiful, seeing the land around her blanketed in whiteness. Winter was perhaps the most beautiful of all the seasons. The delicate frost patterns on frozen lakes, the dance of the flakes as they fell from the heavens, and the odd stillness that settled on the land, like the words of a mother onto a child.
She stopped. She could hear something above the occasional howl of the wind and the rustle of the snow as it travelled across the ground.
She listened intently, brushing her chestnut hair away from her ears, her amber eyes sweeping the scene before her. It sounded like crying, a stifled weeping that held a tiredness and defeat. Quickly scanning the well-known environment, she saw a small, shivering bundle underneath the edge trees of the forest.
Her first thoughts were that a child had become lost on the moors, and she ran over. But as she drew closer, she realised that the person who was weeping was not even human.
A little robot was huddled at the base of a tree, his legs curled into his chest, his arms desperately wrapped around himself, violent shivers racking his tiny body. Red, blue and silver peeked out from behind the layer of snow that covered him. The woman knelt down beside him and touched his shaking shoulder. The little robot turned his head, and she gasped at the incredible eyes that greeted her.
A beautiful royal blue, so deep, so full of grace and kindness that she felt herself getting lost in them. But they were so tired, so sad. They begged for her help, and she gladly gave it. He reached for her, and she cupped the side of his little face, smiling slightly as he leaned into her touch. Her smile vanished as she felt the cold metal burn into her skin through her gloves, seeing the shivers roll through him in harsh waves.
Taking off her coat, she undid her white fleece and wrapped it around the little robot. She put her coat back on, and gathered up her little bundle into her arms. She saw his eyes begin to close as she pulled him to her chest.
"You're safe now little one." She whispered. "Sleep, you're safe with me."
The little robot's eyes began to close. She hugged him tightly and held his freezing hands in one of her own. As she began to walk back home, she gave a silent thanks to whatever had woken her from her slumber.
So? What do you think?
Do I leave it as a mysterious one-shot, or do I make it a full story?