She scrabbles at the broken ice around her to try to pull herself from the frigid water. But her fingers are like frozen wood, the ice brittle as it snaps at her touch.
She looks around frantically. She knows how this can end, has heard it a million times from people: ‘Don’t risk walking across the lake, it’s not worth it.’ But how else was she to get away?
She kicks her legs in the water, but already they have grown so weak. Just a few seconds in the icy depths and her body is beginning to shut down. She manages to twist around anyway, searching for help on the lake’s banks. And oh God, there’s somebody there!
‘Help,’ she screams. ‘I can’t get out.’
He steps forward and relief floods through her. But then he stills.
‘I’m serious!’ she shouts, icy water flooding into her mouth.
But he just continues staring at her. What is he doing? She peers behind him towards the lodge which is sprawled out on the lakefront. Golden lights glimmer, a huge Christmas tree adorns a vast window. Surely someone else can see her?
As she thinks that, two faces appear in one of the windows.
She frantically waves. ‘Help,’ she screams, voice warped with the cold. ‘Somebody help!’
But they too just stand there, motionless.
Can they see her? Yes, she’s stood at that very window many times before. It has the best view of the lake.
Why aren’t they running out to help her? Why isn’t he helping her?
Maybe they don’t want to. That shouldn’t surprise her after all she’s learnt today.
No, he wouldn’t allow me to die. He wouldn’t, no matter what has passed between us.
There is another possibility, of course. She could be imagining the figures at the window. Hallucinating. Does that mean she’s dying? As she thinks that, her vision blurs.
Snow-blind already?
Either scenario is terrifying. She tries to plead with him again. ‘I’m sorry, I – I won’t say anything,’ she says, her voice cracking. ‘Please …’ She puts a shaking hand out to him. He frowns slightly, hesitation in his eyes. But then he crosses his arms.
Terror surges through her, making her strong. She forces herself to push up from the water again, despite the growing heaviness of her trembling limbs and the strange pain starting to seep through the core of her body. She twists around, long hair shimmering in the frigid water around her, shaking fingers feeling across the ice to find a stronger wedge to pull herself up on.
But there is