"It's so cold." a small voice murmured to herself. All around her white, cold, wet snow whipped. Though she was dressed for the horrid storm, she still was freezing.
"Hello?" a voice called out from a distance. Unable to speak, she bent down into the snow and wrote:
'I, have stopped here. I am heading east, I think.' ~
Shivering she stood up and started walking "east". The snow scurried every which way around her, the cold started to destroy her toes and feet very slowly, every second she stayed outside.
A voice broke the silence as it yelled, "Is anyone here?" The girl felt even more afraid as the footsteps grew closer and the voice grew louder. 'Don't go with him, stay here with me. I will protect you, while he might kill you.' A quiet voice said through the wind. Confused she looked around to find a tall man with a tan coat standing right infront of her.
"Who are you?" she stuttered the question toward the man.
The tall man wore a tan coat, white scarf, black pants, and a pair of black boots. In his hand, he held, what looked like, a faucet pipe. The man knelt down to meet the little girl's height, with this movement, she wearily took a few steps back, stumbling on a snow-covered tree root.
"Are you okay?" the man asked with a hint of worry in his voice.
"Yes..." she replied as she tried to stand, only to be caught by the man, as she fell. The girl's face flushed as she was embarrassed about looking weak infront of this man, whom she just met. The man smiled back, at least she thought it looked like a smile.
She was shocked and scared when she woke up. The man sat in the chair next to her as he stared intently at the floor.
"Thank you for helping before." she said quietly in the already quiet room, her voice shook. The man looked at her with gentle eyes, "Da. What's your name?" he asked.
"My name's Anya." she replied, her voice still shook.
The man rose the replied, "Ivan. My name's Ivan." Ivan held out his hand, "Nice to meet you Anya."
Anya shook his out-stretched hand, smiling, then blushing ever so slightly, Ivan noticed. Ivan turned and headed towards the bedroom door, shutting off the lights. "Wait!" Anya spoke up. Ivan stopped and didn't face her.
"Ivan? Do you mind if I slept with you? I'm afraid." Anya asked quietly, causing Ivan to turn around.
"Da, only for tonight." he replied with a faint smile that was hidden in the dark.
That night, Anya awoke with a start and panicked, not recognizing where she was at first. Calming herself down, she laid back down as a hand appeared and stroke her hair, until she fell asleep. "Shh, you're safe." Ivan said quietly, as he drifted off to peaceful sleep for the first time in years.