She had been walking for what felt like ages. She looked down at her watch but it stopped keeping time long ago. She tapped it just to make sure, but it was as dead as dirt. She didn't know why she kept wearing it, but she kept it all the same.
It was snowing hard and it had been snowing that hard for at least 200 years or so. It was deep by now, up to her knees at least, but she just kept walking. She was used to the blizzard after all this time.
She wasn't dressed properly for the weather at all. She had a bad habit of leaving the house with all the wrong attire, and when she walked out of her house 200 years ago it was no exception.
She did a lot of thinking. Mostly it was about where to walk next but she also did a lot of thinking about herself and how lonely she was. She didn't have much to take her mind off things. But then, something caught her attention.
Off in the distance there was a soft faint little orb of light. It was glowing orange and warm and it had been long since she had made any friends, so she ran to it as fast as the snow would allow.
As she got closer the light grew brighter. It got brighter and brighter the closer she got until she could no longer look directly at it. When she finally arrived she pounced on it and caught it in her hands. The light shown through the cracks in her fingers and warmed her palms. It was the best thing she had felt in centuries. She closed her eyes and put the light up to her face. It made her lips and nose tingle.
She decided she would keep the glowing light as her friend. She tucked it away in her pocket, making sure it was safe, and continued along on her journey. She found that whenever she would stop for too long her mind would play tricks with her, and she didn't want to take any chances.
And so she walked. She walked and she walked for another 200 years or so. All the while the snow was falling down on her. Only now, she wasn't so alone. When she needed someone to talk to, her shining light was there. When she was cold, he shining light would warm her hands. When she needed encouragement, her light would motivate her to keep moving.
Once along the way the girl got very discouraged. She felt she'd been walking so long to no avail and it all began to seem so very pointless. She became discouraged so she decided to sit down and take just a little break. Her feet were so sore and she was incredibly sleepy.
While she was laying there in the snow she drifted off to sleep. She was dreaming of a time when daisies grew all around her and she had friends and family to share the sunshine with. It was so bright and so beautiful and so warm inside her dream.
But outside her dream while she lay there, the snow began to pile up on her. As she got buried deeper and deeper her bright light began to worry about her. It shone brightly from her pocket with all its might but she still would not wake up.
The light kept right on shining as hard as it could. And then it finally began to get really warm. The snow on the girl began to melt but she still would not wake up. The light did not stop. It kept right on glowing until it got so hot it burnt the girl and she woke with a start.
There was a brilliant flash of light in the sky. The girl stood and pulled the light from her pocket. All that was left now was just a dim flickering, close to going out.
She panicked. She could not let her light go out. It was the only thing that had been good to her in so very long. It was her best friend. She started to run as fast as she could, light clenched in hand. She wasn't sure why, but her mind was telling her to run a different direction than she had ever gone before.
As she was running there began to be less falling snow. Less and less until finally, there was none. It was getting easier to run, the snow was just up to her ankles now. There, far in the distance she should see the clouds were parting. She could see blue sky and grass.
She was almost there now, just a little further. She could hear faint music and just barely smell the ocean. She ran even faster. And then she had made it. She sprinted up onto the grass and opened her palms. But there was nothing inside.
She fell to her knees and began to sob. She was too late. She could not save it, her light had gone out. After everything it had done for her, and she had been such a fool.
As she was holding her face and crying, a figure appeared before her and extended a hand. She took it, and let it help her to her feet. The hand belonged to a boy, and he was smiling at her. He had a certain light in his eyes. One she had seen before, but couldn't place. Still, it was so comforting.
"Are you okay?" he asked her, with a glimmer in his eyes.
"I...I think so. I've been lost for so long." She looked down into her palms again, still shock. She'd had her light for so long she could barely imagine a life without it.
But then the boy smiled and it sent a warmth throughout her frozen skin.
He took her by the hand again and they walked together up the hill. Over the other side there were people laughing and dancing and singing. She felt so much love coming from these people, and all of the love she could feel continued thawing her skin. She went willingly with the boy to whatever wonderful place he was taking her.
She stopped, and took one last look over her shoulder. There, at the top of the grassy hill she could see back to her snow covered valley and thought fondly of her shining light, and how it saved her life at the cost of its own. She thought of how it first drew her to it, and all the good it did for her, and its warmth, and she imagined maybe it was there all along, just for her. Just to show her how to love and be loved.
And there, far far in the distance, she could barely make out 400 years of tracks in the snow going round and round in circles, and a faint little orb of light glowing right in the center.
