Prologue
Winter has always been my favorite season. Some may find this a bit odd. Why, they ask, would you like a time when there is no sunshine, no warmth? My reply confounds all, which pleases me greatly. "It's easier to hide." Hide from what, you ask? The dark secrets the sun drags from the depths of forests and reveals to the world. See, he's not that frightening, the sun says. He's not all he's cracked up to be. On the contrary, winter guards secrets behind a gate, sealed and impenetrable to the outside; hides the secrets that cower in the darkest corners of that forest, fearing the sun. Confused yet? Good. That means we're getting somewhere.
This may seem irrelevant, but it isn't. I am winter; hiding things deep within. There are secrets I must not disclose, must not even hint to. There is the pain that I must shield. My cold exterior frightens the weak, sending them far away. No one wishes to be locked inside with the secrets, my envious secrets who lash out at those who are free.
Never does my season end. There are blizzards and storms raging within. Once in a while the spring comes and the snowstorms calm. The ice begins to melt. But spring is no match for winter, which overtakes it once more, pushes it far away. The only one who can make my winter end is the sun, which comes with the summer. Sadly the summer stays far from winter, fearing it too will become sad and cold. Without the summer there is nothing which can warm my frost-bitten heart. And thus my secrets have forever been hidden, and my winter shall last a lifetime.