** Prompt = choke **

"Wanna play the choking game?"

Ivan Braginsky makes a face and shakes his head hard, pulling his little sister close behind him. It's winter in Russia -- Kat would tell him stories of General Winter, who would bring the cold. The wind bites through their thick but threadbare clothes.

The boy who asked him sneers. "Chicken."

"Nyet." Ivan says firmly, tugging Natalya along. "We must go home now. Goodbye."

The boy shakes his head but doesn't try to stop them -- even though Ivan is only eight, he's not at all small or weak-looking. "Whatever," he says, his voice thick with cold and sick. "You're missing out, Braginsky..."

Ivan keeps walking. He's not a stranger to risk; no child in Russia is. And his neck itches from where his scarf rubs against his chin...

But not today.