“It’s cold in here” I speak, seeing her lifeless body next to me.

“Oh sorry child, I’ll turn up the heat for you”

I smile at my father as his muscular hands reach for the temperature knob, even it looked like it was shivering. We were heading to our cottage in the rocky mountains, our families favourite get a way to escape from the chaos that occurs in our everyday lives. Again I turn my head to my sister, Callista, who somehow manages to remain sound asleep in our car rides. It wasn’t a long drive by any means, a modest 4 hours from our regular home. A home of prosperity, a bastion of ambition and optimism. Callista had always been the apex of our kindred, her intellect and her laughter were inspirational to everyone who had the blessing to communicate with her.

This morning was particularly frosty, and the only thing on my mind was the temperature. Our vehicle could keep us warm, but inside the cottage all we had were thin, ragged blankets and each other. Unfortunately, not even our body heat and those blankets could warm us from the harsh Canadian winter that was upon us. The wind blew against the car, and threatened to move the entire mountain from its dormant location. The snow also fell from the sky above, and blanketed the entire country in a thick sheet of white.

Callista began to move in her slumber, and even her slight movement shifted the car in place. The roads were completely covered with ice, and the ice did not seem content with our car driving over it. I was always scared of the drive when I was younger, the irrational fear of falling from the road. Callista would always comfort me, hush me quiet and soothe me into a slumber until we had arrived at our destination. I longed for those days, the days where I was young enough to be in Callista’s arms permanently. If I didn’t have to, I would never let go of her.

“We’re around twenty minutes away Sam, please wake your sister” I tap Callista softly on her shoulder and whisper softly in her ear. “Callista, we are close. It’s time to wake up”

I see her jade green eyes sparkle for the first time in hours. I’m almost blinded by the light that reflects back off her eyes. She smiles back at me, and my heart is once again filled with warmth that had gone missing in her slumber. “20 minutes Samuel? Well what could we do to occupy the time until then?” she asks me, her voice soft as a feather falling on fresh snow.

“Obviously I know what we could do!” I say, and let my actions speak instead of my words.


I reach for her sides and begin to tickle her, and she immediately responds with her iconic bubbly giggle, and reaches for my sides. I let out a screech, and a shy laugh, like a baby who sees their mother for the first time in the morning. It was within seconds that we were both nearly screaming in laughter. 


It was also within seconds before all the laughter immediately ended. But not the screams. My father had reached back for us to quit the nonsense, and that slight lapse of judgement is all it took for the ice to grab hold of our tires. The ice, deciding today it was to destroy a family, sent our vehicle down the mountain, every tumble another breath taken out of Callista and my father. My mother had always taken the safer route. It was an extra two hours, but she swore by our safety. But she was long gone now.


Tumble after tumble my eyes were not taken off of Callista, whose body spiraled out of control and was painted scarlet from her own blood. With every inch we flew I began to recognize her less and less. The magnificent, intelligent  female was replaced by one filled by fear, terror, and travesty. I did not see the emotion for long, death soon sucked out everything I had once known of her. 


I was the least fortunate of my family; I was the only one to survive. My leg mangled and my soul even more so torn to shreds, I looked upon my death father, and most importantly, my dead Callista. The jade had been replaced with black, and her ivory skin had been replaced with blood; deep, red, unforgiving blood.


I was sane for another week before I turned insane. I began to have visions, I even spoke to myself convincingly occasionally. 

“It’s cold in here” I speak, seeing her lifeless body next to me.

*First time doing one of these by the way. Any feedback is always appreciated. Thnx!!