Snow Queen

Cold. 

It's so cold.

It's so cold, I can't feel my fingers or my toes.

The only thing I can feel is the shard of the dark mirror, freezing my heart from the inside out.

What does Gerta think of me now? She must think me horrible.

I stare down at the pieces of ice I have been trying to arrange all this time, wishing only one word to come out of them.

Eternity.

Eternity, what a word. 

Eternity. What good is Eternity, when my heart is a lump of ice, and I cannot feel a thing?

Nothing but this shard of the mirror, turning my heart to ice.

The Snow Queen, the one who had taken me to this place, is not here for the moment, yet I still wish to make these pieces spell out that word: Eternity.

"I must hasten away to warmer countries," She had said, before leaving. I do not know what she meant, but I do not care. All I care about is that word. Eternity.

I hear the great door of the hall open, but I do not look up from the pieces of ice.

I hear dear Gerta's voice call out to me, yet I still do not look up.

"Kay, dear little Kay! I have found you at last!"

I do not answer her, nor do I look up from the ice before me.

She approaches me, and touches my shoulder.

"Kay? Dear little Kay? What has become of you, my dear little Kay?"

"I must make Eternity." I say in reply.

"You must make eternity? Whatever do you mean, my dear little Kay?"

I do not answer her, and she starts to weep.

"The mirror has made you cold, my dear little Kay. She has made you cold, my dear little Kay." 

I still do not answer her, and she wraps her arms around me.

"Please, my dear little Kay." 

Her tears hit my face and chest, and some flow down, while some of them flow into my eyes, washing out the shard of the mirror. 

I feel my heart start to thaw, and, along with it, the desire for Eternity.

I look to Gerda, dear little Gerda, and she sings: 

"Roses bloom and Cease to be, but we shall the child see."

"Gerda, dear little Gerda, where have you been, and where are we?"

"It does not matter, dear little Kay. All that matters is that I have found you." She says in reply, and clings to me, laughing and weeping for joy. 

The joy in the air is such that even the pieces of ice I had been struggling with dance about, and soon lie, to form the word I had sought so badly.

Eternity. 

It is funny, I no longer see why I wished for that word. 

Eternity. 

I no longer feel cold, even in this palace of ice. All I feel is warmth and joy.