Silvi in the Snow
Image by Enrique Meseguer from PixabaySilvi shivered as she waded through the snow.
The path she knew so well was invisible beneath the snowdrifts.
“There’s a storm coming,” Mother had said, pulling Silvi’s
coat over her shoulders. “I would go myself, but I have to harvest more apples
before the frost.” She placed the coins for Grandmother’s rent into Silvi’s
pocket. “I want you to hurry to Grandma’s. You may have to stay the night.”
But the day was bright and beautiful, and when she saw that
Vadim had tied a rope to a high branch and all the kids were taking turns
swinging out over the vale, she thought a few minutes with her friends wouldn’t
hurt.
Hours later, the wind came up and clouds covered the sun,
and she remembered her mother’s words and her important task.
And now she stood in the shadow of a tree, the cold ripping
bitterly through her coat, saying to herself, “Why, oh why didn’t I listen to
Mama?”
She pressed on, but soon had to stop again. The snow was up
to her waist and still falling. She was exhausted, and so cold that her teeth
had stopped chattering. She slid down against the trunk of a tree, thinking, “I
will just rest a moment, and then I can continue.”
The goddess Khione found Silvi sleeping, and saw how her
fist inside her pocket still grasped Grandma’s coins, even in sleep. She took
pity on the girl and turned her hourglass over. The winds changed direction,
and the snow lifted. The air warmed, and Silvi woke to see a beautiful woman
holding an hourglass. “Hurry, child. A storm approaches.”
Silvi spotted the path, and ran all the way to Grandma’s
house.
As she lay freezing beneath the tree, Silvi dreamed of the
warmth of Grandma’s fire.
~~~~~~~~~~
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