Snow Invades Snippets and Shorter Stories

Day Eighteen: Yesterday I woke up with a stuffy nose and a small cough. By the time I got home from work at nine, my whole body ached and my brain was shutting down. Now after taking medicine and sleeping through the night I feel better but drained. This cold came out of nowhere. I guess my body couldn't defend itself against five sick bodies attacking it. Anyway, this next picture feels appropriate for how the fall was skipped and we went straight to winter.

An Empty Kingdom

White, gray, and the occasional brown was all Shanna could see. Snow covered everything and seemed to cling with determined strength. Shanna hoped that life would return soon. She hated winter; and, though she could see the sparkingly, crystalline beauty of it, she hated the cold, empty months before spring and summer brought life to the Kingdom of Verra.

She trudged through the courtyard, silently heading for the inner castle where she hoped she would find some answers to her questions. As she moved, the still silence of her surroundings unnerved her. It was the silence of a lifeless land. She raised her hood, her breath creating tiny white clouds. Shanna reached for the rusting handles and the heavy wooden door protestingly creaked open. Dragging the door behind her, she stood on the thick burgundy rug shaking the snow from her body and shoes. 

Surely she would find some kind of clue as to why all the inhabitants of the kingdom, including all the animals, had suddenly vanished without a trace. She shuddered. The memory of returning from her four month journey to find deserted towns, barren fields, and the outer castle in ruins still haunted and confused her. Disease or plagues would have left bodies behind, and all the houses still had all the belongings in them so the people hadn’t just moved somewhere else. And besides that, all the animals, including rodents and woodland creatures were missing too. It was just so bizarre and frightening. 

Wrapping her fur coat tighter around her body, Shanna walked slowly down the great hall, desperately seeking some reason from the king what had happened to people and animals of her beloved kingdom.