I'm Dreaming of a Frozen Witch Part 1
"Zelda, where are you going?" Hilda said as she spotted her sister heading for the door. "Those Nobel people are going to be here in an hour!"
"I know, Hilda, but I need to pick up a book that finally arrived for me at the library and I really ought to stop by the school and see Willard. I've been neglecting him horribly lately. Don't worry. I'll be back in plenty of time," Zelda said as she pulled on her coat and headed out of the door.
"I don't know why Zelda wastes her time with Willard Kraft," Hilda grumbled as she headed into the kitchen. She just hoped that her sister hurried so that she didn't get stuck entertaining her boring friends.
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Zelda hurried up the sidewalk of Westbridge High with her mind on her impending guests. She hoped that she had enough refreshments for them. She wanted to make a good impression so that she would have support when she submitted her next grant proposal. She noticed the deep snowdrifts along the edge of the walk and wondered why the janitor hadn't done a better job of clearing things. Just then, her foot slipped on the icy sidewalk and she fell, twisting her ankle and landing on her hand as she crashed into one of the snowdrifts.
She lay there for a moment in a daze before she shook her head to clear it and tried to pull herself to her feet. Pain shot through her hand and ankle as she moved them and she fell back. There was no way that she was going to get out of the drift on her own. She tried to point herself back home but when she raised her finger, nothing happened.
'What's wrong with my magic?' she thought. Just then she remembered hearing a snap when she fell and she realized that her finger must have been broken in the fall. Her magic would be out until the broken bone had been set.
"Help! Someone help me!" Zelda cried. Her only hope now was that someone would hear her and help her out of the drift. She screamed for what felt like hours but was probably only fifteen minutes before she realized that all of the students were in class and no one would be passing this way for hours. She was going to be stuck there until Hilda realized that she was missing and either called Willard or came looking for her. Until then, she would have to try to protect herself from the cold. Even though it was painful to move, she curled up into a ball and wrapped her arms around her head. That would at least keep her from loosing a bit of body heat. She just hoped that Hilda realized that something was wrong soon.