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     FINALLY, FEBRUARY came.

     He knew what he had to do. To see her again. To feel again.

     He trudged into the forest through the snow that hadn't yet thawed. It was nighttime, right around the time that she left, and he followed his Nowhere path to the place he had seen her last.

     The icicles had disappeared from the trees. Maybe her presence had given the clearing warmth. Maybe he could be warm again.

     He watched as she once again appeared from behind the tree trunk, and he fell onto his knees.

     "I'm ready," he croaked.

     "Lay down," she told him, nearly bringing him to tears. It had been so long since he had heard her voice, and it wasn't coated with frost as he had expected. "Don't cry, my love."

     He laid in the soft snow. Soft.

     She reached out and touched an ice-cold finger to his cheek.

     And then, he froze.

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