The flames were so close, they practically licked her skin, stretching to get a taste.

Rose was nine when her house caught fire.

She could barely breath through the thick smoke that overtook her room. Her little lungs tried their best, but the fire spread quickly and violently.

In her young mind, she thought, _I am going to die_.

She was much to young to die. Her mom would be sad. Her little...

It’s not that I’ve chosen

To live nearly frozen

With frostbitten toes n’

Sniffling red noses

But that’s just my lot

Not something I’ve sought

I’ve just found my self caught

In this wintry draught

I’m perpetually chilly

I’ve sure had my filly

Of snowmen so silly

Built round willy-nilly

I’d love a get-away

A tropical vaycay

On the beach where I would lay

Basking in the sun’s rays

Instead ...

Guys let’s go we need to speed up we will be late SHAROL! Yells John okay geez I’m trying I’m going 100 miles per hour that’s as fast as we can go! Says mom. Guys stop fighting mom go slow we’re near a mountain so you need to relax and make sure that the car is heated. Max don’t worry your DAD wants to speed so here we go. Mom says in a worried and upset tone as she glares at dad angrily.

I yel...

I was so cold. So very cold.

I couldn’t see anything around me, just pitch blackness, my body was frozen. I couldn’t even open my mouth to scream for help.

I remembered how I had got here, driving late at night, the skidding of tires, the brakes screaming as I spun out on the deserted road. I had hit a patch of black ice and lost control of my car.

The pain I felt thought out my entire body ...

I woke up with a monstrous headache and a terribly sore elbow. It took me some time to remember how I arrived at this moment. I slowly sat up, holding my head with my good arm, and took stock of my situation. I may have a concussion—best to move slowly. Did I fracture my elbow? It is terribly painful to move, but I can move it—probably not broken. How did I manage to injure myself? What am ...

The ice was so cold it burned. Tiana sat behind the now upside-down car, rubbing her hands together. She was going to be late, there was no doubt about it.

Her sleeveless dress was already soaked with melted snow and torn up from the crash. Blood ran down the side of her face where she had slammed her head against the wheel of the car. The airbags hadn’t worked.

Tiana shuddered as she remembered ...

They thought they had disposed of my body easy enough; assumed they’d picked the smart, calculated choice.

Who would think a girl as skinny and fragile as me could survive not only a close escape with death but being plunged into a thick coat of snow somewhere she did not know?

I doubt any slimmer of karma could salvage this. I have the thinnest grey jacket with a hole in the pockets. Snowflake...

“Not far now, Bren. That’s a good girl.” Maisie brushed a gloved hand over Bren’s neck. Hard, smooth ruby scales bulged beneath the thin layer of wool, and Maisie patted her dragon once, twice. Warmth radiated from Bren’s body, and Maisie was glad for the comfort her companion gave her.

Six days they had been travelling north, six nights of make-shift snow caves and dehydrated chicken strips—wha...

This is going to be fun. I’m being sarcastic. I hate the cold. I get very cold very easily and one time I got frostbite when I was skiing and I was 11 years old. I hate this. I’m going to die out here in the freezing cold....

Yehan had always loved the sun. It was what eased him as a child, the warmth in the ground and the breeze. The smooth heat sunk into his skin, a welcome familiar sensation.

Maybe the heat of the sun wasn’t too bad of a way to die.

He lay before the sky in a long stretch of sand, warm and soft. It clung to his back, his hair, and his limbs.

He was aware he was dying.

There was no way he co...