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".