Figures Approaching:

There was a young girl who was wandering alone in the wooded area behind her family’s cottage one day. It was winter and there was a thin layer of snow on the ground. Her parents had instructed her carefully, telling her not to travel too far from the home. Still, she found herself further and further from the string of cottages, every time she looked back. Her friends had always known her as adventurous and bold in her childhood innocence. Her parents loved her for this, thinking they were traits she would grow out of. Instead, courage seemed to grow with her with every day that passed. And so, now, the sun was starting to set. She looked back one final time to see the dwindling, twinkling lights of the row of cottages as simple dots in the twilight. She found herself in a large, vast field. Unlike the terrain around the cottages, the terrain here seemed to be flat. She eyed around carefully across the landscape, spotting trees and shoots of withering bulrush shooting up around the field in which she found herself. The growth seemed to encircle the field. She lowered herself onto her knees and with her lightly gloved hands spread the snow aside from the ground. She was surprised to find that she had ventured out onto ice. She did not allow herself to worry as she remembered her dad telling her one day that ice was thick and good for walking on. Without a second thought about the ice, she continued her trek. As long as I can see the light of the cabins, I can return safely, she thought. Lowering her gaze, as she walked along the ice, she spotted in the dying sunlight, the dying blades of grass cutting through the layer of snow that covered the ground. She heard a light crunch beneath her then and lightened up her step a little. She was still not worried but stepped a little more cautiously then. She took a few more steps until she felt the ice crack beneath her feet and give a little. She stopped her step midair and considered what she should do. Very carefully, she placed the other foot onto the ground in front of her. As her toes contacted the ground, the ice collapsed beneath her and she fell through the ice. She was shocked by how cold the water was. It felt like she was being stabbed as she flailed her arms and legs about in the water. She lowered her feet, toes first in order to check for ground below her. She found nothing. She waded on the water for a moment and with all of her breath, she released panicked, shrieks of terror. Her head bobbed and reached above the water, gasping for breath. With her hands, she clung to the sides of the ice but it seemed that the more she grasped at solid ground, the more it would give out and simply become an extension of the water. Her eyes above the water, she caught a glimpse of the lights from the cabins in the distance, flickering. She saw the trunk of a dying tree jutting out of the field not far from her. She began to swim towards it. She was losing feeling in her legs. When she saw the figures approaching along the ice in the distance, she allowed her head to fall beneath the water. With one final gasp, she jutted toward the surface and screamed again. She saw her parents, and the owners of the other cabins running up the ice. Approaching, she saw them quickly form a chain. One held onto the other and the last one, holding onto the tree trunk. They group grasped onto each other’s arms strongly and spread out until they reached the girl in the water. The girl clawed at the hand of the final person on the chain. She opened her eyes wide and saw her father. She started to sink slowly, feeling herself blacking out. When she felt a strong hand clasp around her wrist and pull her up out of the water. When she opened her eyes, she was on the floor of her cabin, in front of the fireplace, a fire crackling. She had a collection of blankets around her. When she looked around, she saw her parents, the rest of the cabin owners, gathered around her. She looked up and saw her father. When he saw her open her eyes, a tear of joy fell from his eye and he put his arms around her and held her tight. - From my Book Fables of Good Will.