The rest of the night, everybody I came across phased straight trough me. They couldn't see me, hear me, or touch me, proven by not reacting and walking trough me. I even went to another town to see if I was visible there, if it was only a local spell or something, but to no avail.

I was truly invisible.

I was back on the lake I first came from, sitting on a rock. I had overheard someone in the other village saying that he was going to travel to Burgess, and when I had followed him – not having anything better to do anyway – he led me here. So, by the end of the night, I sat here on my rock, and was a whole lot wiser than I was at the beginning of it; considering that I haven't known anything, safe for my own name – and even that had to be told to me by the moon.

A loud, female voice woke me from my thoughts. It was a very sweet voice, as if from a mother.

"Flee, darling, are you there?"

I hadn't noticed the girl on the other side of the lake until now. The woman – apparently her mother – had walked up to her and laid a hand on her shoulder. The girl appeared to be very sad, more than usual for a girl of her age.

She didn't answer her mother. She just sat there, poking absent-mindedly in the snow with a stick. Even when her mother went to sit beside her on the rock, she did not respond. It was as if she was stuck in another world, one with only sad things.

"Flee, come on. You need to come home. It's nearly dawn, and it's so cold out here. You yourself are very cold too, now we're talking about it. Don't you feel it?"

The girl – Flee – still didn't answer. The only thing that had changed, was the fact that she had stopped poking the snow. She just sat there, hands in her lap, staring into infinity with that sad look.

Something inside of me stirred. Kids like her shouldn't be so sad. The other kids I had seen weren't, they chased dogs and cats, and played other games, too, like hopscotch, hide-and-seek or tag, and some were having snowball fights or were ice skating. I myself particularly loved those last two games. Maybe I just love the winter very much, I absently thought.

But if kids like them were so happy, and always playing games, then why was she so sad? Had something happened? What could that have been, to make a kid so sad? I wondered.

When I started to pay attention to mother and daughter again, I saw Flee silently crying. She was still staring at nothing, and did not seem to notice her mother trying to comfort her. Whatever happened, it must have been something very big. I stood up from the rock I had been sitting on and walked over to them.

Once there, I sat in front of them on the ground, hoping to learn more by doing so. I felt so sorry for them… I heard the mother whispering soothing words to her daughter, who still didn't seem to react. "I know you miss him honey, but you can't stay sad forever. And you can be grieving inside, too. It's just too cold out here. Please, just come with me. Come home." I heard a hidden message in those words: "I don't want to lose you too…"

So, it appears that somebody had died, or something like that. Also, she seemed to care very deeply about him. Who was he? Her friend? Maybe, but her mother also cared about him. Her father then? Could be. But I had a feeling that that wasn't the case. Could it be… no, that's impossible, right? But it sure does match her emotional state.

Could it be her brother?

For the first time, Flee talked. Her voice was hoarse, as if she hadn't talked in days. "Mom? Why did he have to go?" Her mother had to think about that for a while, trying to find an suitable answer for her child. "Well… He was trying to save you. If you were to stand there on the ice much longer, you would have fallen in. He did what he thought was right, and he wanted you to be safe. He didn't mean to fall in himself, I'm sure."

"Where is he, mom? I miss him."

"I miss him too, but he's in a better place now, sweetie."

"And it's so close to Easter," Flee continued, "That was his favorite holiday… It is s-s-such a pity that he didn't get t-to go egg hunting in the f-f-forest…" Flee had started to cry mid-sentence. Her mother also shed a few tears, but did not show any other sign of sadness. I could see that it was hard for her to keep it in, though. I supposed that she was being strong for her daughters' sake. They sat there like that for a bit, and then she stood up, taking Flee with her, and walked in the general direction of where she had come from – probably their home. "Come, darling. I will make us some breakfast, and then you can do whatever you want. Maybe you could help me bake a pie? I know you love that," mother said. I followed them with my eyes for a while before getting to my feet. I had decided to look after Flee for a while, just to make sure she was going to be okay. Who knew, maybe I could even cheer her up by making a frost drawing, for instance. But for now, I would stay close to her.

Author's notes:

-got nothing to say-

Until next chapter,

CrazyDragon200