SHARDS: A TEASER
1.
When Elsa is three, her mother is pale as snow in a blood-stained bed. There is a red, wrinkled, squirming creature in her arms, and she holds it out to Elsa. Elsa looks at her father, but his head is bowed and he is busy talking with the midwife. He does not see them with his eyes full of tears. So Elsa reaches out and takes what her mother hands her. This is her sister, her mother says. Anna.
"Promise me you'll protect her, Elsa."
Elsa promises.
2.
A few years pass and Anna learns how to walk and talk. Elsa stays close by, caring for her as best she can. So when Anna walks out into the winter in search of something, Elsa follows. When the blizzard finds them and howls around them, Elsa stays. And when Elsa sees that something reaching out for her sweet and foolish little sister-
She keeps her promise.
3.
Later, Anna wakes up in her bed. Someone's lit a fire and there's a hot cloth on her forehead. She looks around and sees her father standing by the hearth, his head bowed. She also sees her sister, who's sitting in a chair with her spine straight and her hands folded in her lap. There is something different about her, though. Then Anna realizes.
"Elsa?"
Her sister turns to look at her. Her eyes are blank.
"Elsa, why is your hair white?"