I stumbled exhausted through the growing inches of snow. Man! I was grateful I’d brought proper gear, because instead of just cold to the bone, lost in the woods with no food, I’d have been dead in the woods instead. Hm. Actually, I’d rather be dead than where I am right now.

My breath, mist in the freezing air, accompanies several crystals of ice on their drifting journey down from the gloomy wh...

‘Huff, puff, guys can someone carry me?” I said exhastedly trying to breathe from all the climbing “I’m taxed from all that hiking, I need to get some rest”. They stared at each other waiting for someone to volunteer to help. “Uhh, sorry but it seems like no one has the stamina left to carry someone while hiking” one of my friends said as a excuse to not do it himself “I know a hotel nearby, how a...

Each trail of footprints in the snow marked a similar fate: death.

I’d known it. Of course I did. The shrill screams and piercing pleads throughout the deepening of the and thickening of the trees ahead of me was a reminder that no matter where I turned, death would follow.

“Do you think they’re all gone?” Quinton asked me, the ends of his hiking staffs puncturing the ground below us. The hummin...

I should have known better than to go hiking after a snowstorm, but I really wanted to get out of the house. The whole family was assembled there for Christmas, including a few noisy and fussy toddlers, and I just wanted some peace.

I was a widow, having lost my husband and only child in a car accident last year, and I felt that my very presence just brought everyone down.

The problem with a l...

Hello, hello, are you home?

Please, Sir, I’m all alone

Your house looks warm and cozy

While outside I’m frozen and lonely

Looking through the open curtains

Seeing light, I am so certain

I’ll be welcome to come inside

To warm my bones by the fireside

No one answers as I keep knocking

Instead I turn and a car is honking

The driver beckons for me to come

In the car it’s warm as the sun

The owner o...

The wind howled above me as dark storm clouds appeared across the sky.

I slowly trudged through the quickly darkening woods. The trees once bright, and inviting twisted into a phantasmagoria of harrowing creatures waiting to pounce. Their branches, jagged claws, that desperately scratched at me as I kept along my dread-filled march.

As more snow began to fall to the ground my head darted ab...

"Put that phone away! Work will be there when you get back." Keesha grabbed for her phone, but Latrina pulled it back just in time, thumbs flying on the keyboard.

"I'm almost done! One more minute and I will be work free." She leaned away, typing her signature, staying just out of reach.

Keesha narrowed her eyes, probably calculating the distance to snatch for her second attempt.

Ding.

The ...

The day of the hike, I was ready and willing and able. Checked the weather, life packs done and ready to go. I was to leave

At 6 am and meeting my partner soon. Off I went with adventures and hikes in my mind. It was a beautiful day and the

Sun was out as far as the eye could see. Little did I know my planned day was about to change.

My cell rang about the time I was about to pair up, and my hik...

My wandering of the ivory forest had left me hopelessly and maddeningly lost within myself, believing that I would never once feel the warmth of my heartbeat now, It be just a beat of survival. And I tranquilized my foreboded fate with memories of nights when the moon looked through my window seat hither and paid me attention with its midnight omnipotent eye. At the same time, I enwrapped myself a...

“It’s weird, talking about this stuff to a stranger.” Frida fidgeted in the oxblood leather chair. Playing with her necklace, she looked out of the big picture window at the marshmallow world. Her eyes flickered around the warm wood interior and down at her mug of tea.

“I guess I’ll start at the beginning. The first sign was my glasses. I kept losing them. I’d thought they were in my purse and the...