The voice was loud and clear. It rang through the crisp morning air, shattering the silence that surrounded me. I was sitting in my ice fort running my gloved hands over the sparkling snow when I heard the cries. I didn't know whose voice it was, though it seemed familiar, and I was curious to know why they were screaming.

Slowly I stood up brushing the snow that clung to my flowered jacket. The snow crunched under my small tennis shoes as they ran across the yard. Stopping a few yards from the back door to my house and stopped and listened. Another scream penetrated the air. It was then I realized the screams were coming from the southern border of our property. At this distance I could just make out the words. Help.a word I knew, but had never heard with such passion. The voice sent a shiver through me and I pulled my winter coat tighter around my small body and pressed my gloves over my red ears. Rubbing my ears, I dropped my arms to my sides and listened again. The voice rang out again, and I knew I wasn't imagining it.

"Mommy!" I yelled as loud as my voice would allow. In the background I could hear the voice sound out more desperately than before. I took one quick glance at the house and then turned to run toward the screams.

My heart pounded hard against my chest as I tried to run faster. My small legs were able to carry me in small strides and my lungs burned as I breathed in the frosty air. I felt a tug in my stomach and I swallowed hard. Tears burned my eyes as the icy wind blew across my face.

At last, I reached my destination, the frozen lake. I grazed at its white surface, falling to my knees in exhaustion. The snow seeped through my thin leggings and I felt my knees grow numb, but it was only a distant feeling. My full attention was focused on the lake. About fifty yard away a dark splotch interrupted the crystalline white. It was a crack in the ice and calls were coming from the dark spot.

I shuddered as I saw two arms reach up from under the water fighting to grasp the slick ice. I ran out onto the ice, feeling my shoes sliding out from under me. I regained my balance and ran faster. Behind me footsteps echoed and I heard my mommy call out to me.

"Get off the lake! What do you think you're doing! It's too thin!"
Tears streamed down my face. Yes, the ice was too thin, why hadn't this person known that! I didn't turn around as a shouted, "I have to save them! I must get to them!"
"What are you saying? There is no one there! Get off the lake before it cracks!"

I shook my head in fury. Why didn't she see the poor person with their arms flailing and their voice crying out? I got closer, so close. I could see a small girls head bobbing in the water. Green fabric floated around the girl making it impossible for her to swim. She was no older that me.

"I have to save her!" I cried one last time as I made it to the crack.
"The ice is thin! Come back! There is no one there!" I could hear her voice cracking, it was full of tears, but I couldn't go back.
The girl looked up at me, her lips were blue, her skin white, and her eyes a frosty purple. My stomach lurched looking at her eyes. They were full of something, but not fear.
My mom's voice called out once time and I heard her footsteps on the ice. "The ice is too thin!"

The warning sunk in slowly. My heart dropped in my chest as I looked once more in the girl's eyes. I felt the ice cracking under my body. The blue lips of the small girl curved up into a smile and I saw what was in her eyes clearly. It was cold cruelty, and chilling glee.

I heard the words as I felt the ice finally break beneath me. The cold words were the last thing I heard as ice cold water filled my ears.

"No longer alone."

--Six months later--

"Mommy, look at the lake!" The small boy tugged at his mother's arm, his eyes sparkling with amazement at the rippling waters.
She nodded distantly not even looking at the gleaming lake. "Yes, yes, Tommy." She turned back to the real-estate agent. "It seems to be a great place, but why is it so cheap?"

The woman waved off the question, "It is too big for the woman living here."
"She is the only one?"
"She used to have a daughter, but she died."
"Oh."
"Fell through thin ice on the lake."

Tommy heard the conversation, but he wasn't paying attention. His eyes were fixed on the lake's center. He felt a presence and for a second her saw two small girls out on the lake. They were holding hands and dressed in limp winter jackets.

A wind whistled across the property and in that instance the girls were gone. Tommy turned back to his mom, suddenly having an idea.
"This winter we can go ice skating!"

His mother waved his remark off, too busy filling out the papers the real-estate had given her.

Tommy looked back out onto the lake. The wind blew his blond hair in his face and he felt he would see the girls again someday.