Nobody's Drabbles

by Mikell

A series of 200 word, narrative drabbles. I've deliberately left out names and dialogue (in most), to practice and improve my narrative characterization. ("Tell" is the exception, being 100% dialogue.) Random topics. Mostly set in the 2k3 series, with occasional references to the 2k7 movie.

36. 36 Cold

~Cold~

It's snowing when they bring his brother into the house. He catches a glimpse of the snow falling outside, as his brother and his friend haul in loads of firewood. The flakes float down, unconcerned, like the ashes that were in the air as they fled the City. The heat of the fire had been nearly unbearable, but still greater was the pain of defeat, and the knowledge that they'd, for the first time in their lives, run away.

Here, there is no blazing glow of the fire to announce their defeat, no enemy clan gloating. There are only woods, and peace, falling snow, and cold. The knowledge of how particles collect moisture in the thin atmosphere, freezing into delicate crystals, plays like a video in his mind. The science behind the frozen miracles melts away under the greater urgency. Uncomfortable facts about cold and injuries crowd in, clamoring for attention.

The place is cold, but not as cold as the sting of defeat, or the fear for his brother that sits in his chest like a lump of ice. He closes the door, feeling the warmth already as the others begin building a fire. The irony doesn't escape him.