The Warmth Of The Storm

• Rachel Sayers, Grade 9, Caringbah High School -
• Short Story
• 2020

Excellence Award in the 'The Inside Story 2020' competition

A bitter wind blew through the air. Sleet pelted down. The night was dark, cold, and unforgiving. The alps stretched far and wide. As her cloak dripped with rain, she felt her body freezing over as the snow began to fall more heavily. The frostbite permeated her body, reaching the tips of her fingers and stinging like needles. Her tears turned to ice as they fell down her face.

It felt like only yesterday that she was home, laughing with her sisters, soothed by the gentle hum of the radio. Her mother cooking breakfast while her father read the paper at the table. Who could have guessed that only a month later she would be trekking through the alps, near death, a thousand thoughts racing through her mind? The wind blew stronger than ever and she stumbled. More tears streamed down her face as she crawled through the snow, every step harder to take. She collapsed as the cold consumed her. The grief, the regret, the fear; they had all finally taken their toll. Eyes open. Shut. Fading. Open. The cold couldn’t wholly consume her memories, as she slipped in and out of consciousness. Her mind like the winding of a broken cassette tape, trying to replay memories through tangled fragments.

She saw the events of the past month replay in her head. Her father’s lost battle with cancer, her sister’s betrayal, the fight that followed, her escape to Germany, her run from the police. It all flashed through her mind and she found herself being covered with snow as the storm worsened. She could feel herself losing control of her body. Breathing became harder. She closed her eyes and felt the cold consume her, her hope fading away. Again, her memories returned to her in broken fragments, scattered randomly in her mind.

She had stood in the doorway of her home in France two days after her father’s death. Her sister stood in the living room, facing the window, her phone held to her ear. It was then that she heard the conversation that would change her life. She had always known that her sister was involved in illegal activity, but she had never known to what extent until that day. She stood and listened, but soon, horrified by what she had overheard, she slowly turned and started towards the door. Suddenly she felt a hand grasp her wrist and panic overcame her. She yanked her hand free and sprinted towards the door. She knew she had to run. She could never be safe now that she was associated, never mind the police, her sister would always be searching, and as she fled, she was reminded of the old cliché: ‘she knew too much.’

Snow continued to fall. She struggled to pry her eyes open as the frostbite took over her body. As she began to slip away, she felt the weight of life being lifted off of her, and the cold melted away and she was warm again.