Imagineering Essay, Research Paper

I woke to find the world transformed. I felt it first. I felt the cold air float over me, around me, and through me, like a spirit filling the room with nothing but the knowledge of its presence. As I arose, my bare arms were exposed to the grasps of winter, making them shiver. I put on warm clothing, and, wiping away the condensation from the lightly iced window, revealed to myself what seemed a fairy-tale landscape. The frost coated the glass unevenly and sharply, distorting the outside image like a kaleidoscope. Each tree was swaying slightly, wavering in unison, as if dancing to a lightly hummed song. And there was a song. The first song of winter, sung by a robin. It’s tiny voice was carried by the gentle breeze, each note hanging on to a breath of air. I stepped into the bleakness, and put the word winter into a whole new perspective. What had seemed to be a gentle breeze, was really a bitter gale, it’s icy teeth biting into my warm cheeks, ripping chewing, clawing. The trees that had seemed to sway, were now reaching out, helpless, and exposed to the grips of winter. Their leaves were gone, trapped under a blanket of snow .And the Robin that sings, sings a sad song, hoping for his family to return. But his notes are drowned, muffled before they carry far enough for anyone to hear. The snow crunches underfoot, numbing my toes through my shoes. The separate flakes are innocent and harmless, but together they are strong. Conceitedly, they sit upon the branches, weighing them down, making them weep. My eyes are streaming as I am attacked by the minute pieces of ice, cutting into me, blurring my vision. I can no longer feel my fingers, all I feel is pain in their place. As I exhale, my breath turns to ice, draped in frost and cloaked in mist. Winter is around me, on me, inside me. There is no escape.

Sarah Friend