She looked like a snow queen walking through a winter forest, too beautiful to be entirely human. And there he stood, with his heart in his fist. What was the name of this feeling? It was as if he’d fallen through the surface of his life into some strange new territory, a place that had always existed even though he hadn’t been aware of it. All he knew was that the careful distance he’d put between himself and other people had finally been crossed by someone . . . and nothing would ever be the same.
