This winter was unique
because on a night like no other,
a girl was pacing, worried,
in search of her mother.

A cold whisper
ruffled up her hair.
Not even her sister
she could find anywhere.

Had they left her behind
on this cold winter night?
Her heart had another mind,
a trusting anchor full of light.

"Mom?" "Delilah?"
shouted the girl.
No guiding star,
only a foggy swirl.

She left her home
and a wise boy she met.
He said: "In the forbidden zone,
urgent, you need to intercept."

The girl stumbled,
left him behind.
"What now?" she mumbled,
just as someone nearby cried.

Hastily, she followed the sound,
and scarier it got:
An old man on the ground
- he had been shot.

She rushed there,
knelt down next to him.
He fought for air,
mumbled: "Not...prevent. Sin."

She pleaded: "Do not give up!"
"No light. My ... eyes",
he said just as they shut,
resisting to high a price.

"Go further up the hill,
there... is a gathering.
Surival depends on winters will,
there's no escape until ... spring."

With his last words,
she knew her doom,
despite the hurt,
she adressed the moon:

"Goddess, will we survive?
My mother and sister,
are they still alive?"
The answer a quiet whisper.

"Keep going, princess.
Neither dead nor alive.
You must confess
if freedom you strive."

The girl went up the hill,
a fire lit in an empty place
on her knees, ready to spill,
she took in the space.

A winter like no other
when the girl confessed.
To her sister and her mother,
a new life was blessed.

***
🏅Update: This poem won in the Winter 2024 Edition of "The Season Anthology" hosted by "FlashficCommunity".