Desert Snow
Selia kicked the sand around with her feet, the dust rising up and covering her face. She choked, coughed, and tried to spit the awful taste of the sand from her mouth. This Island Pteri was tired of the heat. It was nearly halfway through the month of celebrating and there was nary a cloud in sight.
"I want it to snow." Selia whined to her brother, a bright blue Pteri. He simply flapped his wings around and ignored his older sister. Unnen loved the sunshine and he knew that if the clouds began to roll in, that he would have to stay inside. Unnen did not want snow.
"Go build a sand castle." Unnen suggested, hoping that his older sister would simply leave him alone to paint. Unnen could paint practically anywhere, but not if it was snowing. The white stars falling from t he sky would only disrupt any canvas he was creating.
Selia muttered, but whatever she had said was unrecognizable. She moped and went for a walk, kicking her feet all the while.
"Maybe, I can pretend." She said to herself, crossing her wings against her chest and gazing at the rolling hills of sand all around her. She closed her eyes tightly and tried to pretend that she was cold. She shivered and tried to focus on the gray clouds and tiny snowflakes drifting down from them. One fell on her nose.
She opened her eyes to see the rolling hills covered in snow. Selia's face broke out in a huge smile as she started off at a run and opened her wings wide and glided up into the air. She let the snowflakes fall on her and wanted to stay cold in her summer clothing.
Finally, she landed easily in the snow, the cold white tickling her toes. She giggled and rolled some snow up into a ball, tossing it as far as it would go. Selia couldn't stop laughing.
She collapsed on her back and looked up at the dreary sky. Selia was like a light in the wilderness with her energy and happiness. She watched as the snowflakes began to fall harder and the wind picked up, swirling the snowflakes hard and fast. She let them drift down and melt on her warmer face as she moved her wings and feet to make a snow angel.
She stood and admired her work as she shook the snow from her. She was starting to shiver with cold and wished she had a jacket. She wanted to build a snowman, a fort, and have a snowball fight. It was snowing harder, but Selia didn't mind.
"Snowman time!" She shrieked excitedly, as she collapsed down in the snow and began to roll a huge ball of snow for the snowman's body. She started to pant and shiver and realized that her wings were freezing. She frowned, the first frown she had used since being stuck in the sand.
"I'm cold." She muttered, wrapping her wings around her as she tried to keep warm. She looked around in the wilderness, but she was alone.
"Anyone there?" She called out, her voice echoing in the distance. She opened her wings to fly around to see if there was anyone else around, but she was too cold.
Instead, Selia walked, puttering around in the cold, frigid snow. She heard something move and turned her head, wondering if it was the wind, or her imagination. "Hello?"
A figure stepped over a nearby hill; a snow Eyrie, with a bright orange carrot nose.
Selia smiled, happy to have found someone. The Eyrie stepped forward and Selia ran to meet the snow covered savior walking over the hill.
"Can you help me?" Selia asked, wondering how the Eyrie wasn't shivering as well. The two stared at each other and the Eyrie finally responded.
"I was wondering if you could help ime/i."
"You? I don't even know where I am."
"You are in the Snow Land." The Eyrie drawled. Selia looked around and thought that it seemed rather obvious that she was. "I have escaped from the Ice Queen's palace." The Eyrie explained, her words as cold as the ice itself. Selia could tell that this Ice Queen was a dreary woman.
"The Ice Queen? Did she cover you with snow?"
The Eyrie nodded her head slowly as piles of snow fell off, but never seemed to clear. "I was a prisoner in her castle. Chilly place, it was. I was lucky. Some others were turned into ice." She shivered and Selia realized her own situation wasn't as bad.
"I am Selia." The Pteri offered, "You can come with me, if you'd like. I'm trying to find my way home." The truth was, Selia had long since forgotten how she had arrived. She remembered bits and pieces, but amid the fun and excitement of finally seeing snow in a winter month, she had completely forgotten what had happened before.
"Releesh." The other replied, bowing her head down until her carrot nose touched the snowy hill. Selia tilted her head to the side in amusement, but was too cold to really say anything. Instead, she tried her best to keep warm and all of the wamth she had from escaping.
"Releesh, you wouldn't happen to know how to get back to the Lost Desert, would you?"
"Lost Desert?" Releesh asked. "I have never heard of this place."
"You know, it is a big Desert. In Neopia. It is huge and warm." Selia retorted, trying to get the Eyrie's brain to unfreeze. Maybe, that was why she couldn't remember what a desert was: she was too cold.
"I do not know of this place called Neopia." Releesh spoke, suddenly thinking she had bumped into someone as crazy as her cousin Valoosh. "We are in…why, I don't really know where we are."
iNow who is crazy!/i Selia thought, crossing her wings and looking around. "We should find some shelter, I think."
"What if I melt?"
"It is way too cold for you to melt, even in shelter." Selia replied smartly. She didn't know how she knew, but she was sure that the Eyrie would hardly melt in a cave. The two started to walk in what they assumed was away from the palace of this Queen of Releesh's and finally reached a large hill with what seemed like a small opening.
Selia ducked inside first and listened hard for any type of noise. It was a small burrow in the hill with a rock wall behind them. No one could be living there. Selia motioned for Releesh to follow her inside and both of them plopped down on the ground.
"I wish we could light a fire." Selia mused, the cave hardly keeping her warm. The minute she said the word "fire" though, Releesh was cowering in the corner of the cave.
"No fire! I will melt!"
"It is alright, Releesh, I don't have anything to make a fire anyway. Sit down. You don't want to stand all night."
Selia realized that she was being rather calm about the entire situation. At first, she had panicked, but when she had met Releesh and realized that there was someone out there that might need her help, she had relaxed some.
"It is late. I will sleep." Releesh spoke softly, curling up in the corner of the cave, as far away from the opening as she could get. Selia followed suit, yawning as she laid down and listened to the wind blowing harshly outside. She shivered and wished for anything that would make her warm.
She even wanted to return to the hot Neopian desert.
Selia yawned and realized that the Eyrie was fast asleep. Her eyes felt heavy, like lead, and when she couldn't put sleep off any longer, the young Pteri drifted off.
Selia dreamt of the heat of summer and the hot Neopian sun beating down on her during a game of gormball in the desert. She was smiling happily as she began to awake. Before she opened her eyes, she could feel the warmth engulfing her and see a bright light behind her eyelids.
She snapped awake and was greeted by the bright sun in her face. Her eyes snapped closed again as she stood, rubbing them before opening them again.
She was back in the Lost Desert. There were hills of sand flowing all around her and she could feel it in her toes. She pinched herself to make sure that she still wasn't dreaming and she began to skip happily home.
Halfway there, she stopped.
What had happened to Releesh? Had it all been a dream? Was Releesh real?
Selia was worried. She didn't want to leave Reelesh in the snow, cold and alone. She heard laughter ahead and could see her brother rolling down a hill not far from where she stood. Selia pushed the thoughts of Releesh far from her mind. It had all been a dream. It wasn't the first time that Selia had fallen asleep in the sand and had a vivid dream.
But, this one seemed so…real.
"Selia! Come on! We need you for gormball!"
Selia smiled and ran after her brother. Hoping, for the best, that she had not left a friend.