It started out as raindrops

on my windowpane.

But now I can't see past the blur.

The water crystallizes

before the sun rises

Every day seems the same,

the same routine.

The winter always ends

but this year the cold's overdue.

The tree outside my door bends

it cracks beneath the weight.

This shelter wasn't designed

to keep me safe inside.

My skin turns white

I'm freezing at night.

I laugh like I'm crazy

looking past the sky that's hazy.

Is it day or night?

Both are the same.

Daytime the sun mocks

Nighttime the moon smirks.

I remember someone's outside

Who was it?

Blindly I stumble outside

haunted by the sounds I hear.

The chills are like knives

The trees murmur behind my back

Light begins to rise

and for the first time

meets my weary eyes.

Trails of red,

startling enough to stop.

A battle scar

from warring forces of Ice.

My signature of defiance

in this frosty world

authorizing my statement of freedom.

I know the Ice King watches me

He won't kill me

right away

He will slowly try

until I die

to drag the life from me.

I stumble more than once

and

before I know I'm down

the document's soaked

in red ink.

A price tag.

He laughs, waiting for the moment

when my ink is gone.

I rip a piece of extra cloth

(why didn't I do this before?)

and try to stop the bleeding.

Just a few more steps

Just

           a

                  few

                            more

                                           steps

I hear a clock ticking

a whimper nearby;

she's okay, just sleeping.

I carry her with me

searching for the farmhouse.

No need to make a trail

when my ink is now a river.

Why won't it stop?

I wonder.

I hear shuffling

in the woods.

Battle cries from the king's forces

as if he hasn't had enough sources

of human bloodshed.

But no, he lives to kill

and he kills to live

he is evil in earthly form.

They're chasing us

the clock ticks faster

My limbs tense

and I can't help

when I trip

and freeze like stone.

I move the little girl closer

wondering if a corpse

can still keep her warm.

Am I selfish

for not giving her my coat

and dying already?

The clock slows

the sky snows.

I'll savor this moment

even if she's twenty steps from

dead

and I'm three.

The shouts grow louder

Helicopters, guns, it's all a blur.

I don't feel the bullets

but I hear them come.

They run past me

looking for others, 

a whole village maybe.

The girl looks like a bundle

they can't see her.

I hear more bullets

Screams are common as music

Ice freezes the wounded

Serenely I fade

But my spirit never dies.

Don't let our spirit die.