Elana was silently fuming. She had been ordered to go outside and play with her cousins. Kato, her brother, was allowed to remain indoors because he was reading, as usual. The only thing Elana ever needed to read was the date, which today was the tenth of July, 1932. Still, she hated how Kato could get away with reading while she, on the other hand, who had been on the verge of discovering something worthwhile to do, had been ordered to leave. Yes, ordered. It had been Father, of course, who had commanded her, but as usual, Mother had not come to her defence. It was so unfair.

She stormed outside, to find her cousins, Marie and Pierre playing a mindless game of tag. Elana shook her head. She had grown out of tag when she was eight, and she was thirteen now. A teenager, not a child. Not that anybody seemed to notice that.

"Cousin Lana!" Marie squealed, running over.

"Elana," the thoroughly annoyed girl reminded her nine-year old cousin. "Elana."

"Do you want to play?" Pierre asked her politely.

"It is not a matter of whether I want to, the cold, hard truth is that I have to," Elisa muttered.

"Pardon?"

Elana sighed. "Yes, Pierre, I wish to play."

"Fine, you are in!" Pierre said and he took off, fleeing to the far corner of the garden with Marie. Elana ran after them and obliged to tag Marie after giving the girl a decent head start. She then ran from Pierre, further and further into the garden, almost where it reached the wood.

"Elana?" Pierre called. "Elana, where are you?"

Elana smiled to herself and remained hidden behind the bushes, slowly stepping her way further back. She was soon completely in the forest. Behind her where two trees parallel to each other that formed a sort of walkway. She stopped just before she stepped through them. She waited, completely still and silent. Pierre and Marie had stopped calling for her. Suddenly, another voice rang out.

"Elana!"

Wonderful, Elana thought. Kato's joined the search party.

"In here!" she decided to reply and heard the scuffling of three pairs of feet as they followed her voice. They were still calling.

"Elana? Elana!"

"Back here!"

Kato spied her first, bursting out of the undergrowth of the family garden and into the forest. Marie and Pierre were right behind him.

"Elana," said Kato to his younger sister. "You are supposed to be playing tag, not hide and seek."

Elana just shrugged her shoulders, something Mother and Father hated. So, it seemed, did Kato.

"Elana!"

Elana stepped back at the forcefulness of her brother's voice and tripped, falling back ward between the two trees. She could hear her brother and cousins calling her name again, but the voice sounded oddly distant. Wind whistled in her ears and bright light filled her eyes. She cringed, expecting to land on hard ground. Instead she landed on something soft, white and powdery.

Snow.

Elana blinked and tried to take in her surroundings. She was still in a forest, but everything was blanketed with a thick layer of snow. The two parallel trees still stood in front of her, but beyond them there was only an identical white landscape.

Suddenly, Pierre, Marie and Kato appeared out of nowhere, falling in a heap beside her. They sat up, looking extremely dazed.

"Snow?" Pierre and Kato asked no-one in particular.

"Snow!" said Marie, delighted. Then comprehension dawned on her small, round face. "Cousin Kato, isn't it summer?"

"Yes Marie, it is," said Kato slowly. He got to his feet and tentatively put his arm through the space created by the two looming trees. Elana had half expected it to disappear and was quite disappointed when nothing seemed to happen.

"Wait – my hand feels warmer. So maybe we should just –" Kato made to step through the two trees.

"No, wait!" Elana cried out. "Can't we at least explore first?"

This was by far the most exciting thing that had happened to her all summer. Just when she had reached her upmost limit of hours spent practicing embroidery and discussing politics, here was a real adventure just waiting to be taken advantage of. Kato paused and turned around to face his younger sister, who was still sitting upon the snow.

"We have no winter attire."

"We won't stay that long."

"Please, Kato," Marie begged her cousin.

"Oh do let us take a short look around," added Pierre.

"Just a quick look?"

The three other children nodded vigorously, jumping to their feet.

"Well fine. Don't attempt anything dangerous."

"Onward!" cried Marie, pointing in a direction.

Elana shook her head. "No Marie, I'll lead."

"Who says you get to lead?"

"I did, Pierre."

"No, I'll lead for I am oldest."

Elana scowled at Kato and muttered a few curses under her breath. Kato always played that card and it never ceased to annoy her. Grown-ups were forever comparing to her to her perfect older brother and she had lost count of the times she had been queried as to whether she couldn't be a bit more like her older sibling.

Lost in thought and annoyance, Elana kicked up a shower of snow at Marie who was trudging in front of her. Marie cried out when the sudden coldness hit her back. Kato stopped in his tracks and swing around, instantly realising what had happened.

"What did you go and do that for?"

Elana shrugged.

"Elana! You were the one who said we could stay warm, but if you keep that up we'll have to turn back. Then this adventure will be ruined for all of us because of you!"

"Because of me? You blame everything on me! It's always my fault."

"Well, it is!"

"If that's what you think, I don't want to follow you anymore. I've been following you my whole life and let me tell you, I've had a terrible time!"

Kato's face darkened. "I am your older brother. It is your duty to follow me, so that I can protect you."

"I don't need protection!" Elana screamed. Marie and Pierre were looking exceptionally scared at this point. The forest that surrounded them was completely quiet, except for the two raised voices. "I'm thirteen years old, has no-one noticed that."

"You're still a girl!"

Elana cried out in exasperation with a noise that didn't make sense and didn't make her feel the slightest bit better. She tore off into the forest in the opposite direction, not caring where she was going or where she would end up. Kato was calling after her and she knew he would follow, but it didn't matter, she was faster than him.

As she ran, Elana cursed everyone in her mind. Kato, Marie and Pierre, her Mother and Father and anyone else who refused to listen to her. She was tired of being ignored. Tired of having no say. But there was no-one to give her the power she desired.

And so Elana kept running, letting the frozen forest consume her and her burdens at the same time.