Prologue

I sat on the fallen snow, ignoring the cold creeping through my clothes as the freshly fallen ice began to melt. But it was nothing, nothing to the coldness inside of me. My heart had frozen in place, as if it had stopped beating for good. Useless now – just like me to the world. I was an empty shell, dying…slowly…ebbing away to sheer nothingness.

Suddenly, I began to laugh.

I fell down unto my back, and began to swipe my arms and legs at the snow, creating a snow angel. Opening my mouth, I cried out a throaty laugh, tears streaming down my face at the same time. My body began to feel numb from the freezing temperature, but who was I to care? I laughed continuously, occasionally choking on my own voice.

And then, the snowflakes softly landed on my eyelashes, creating a white curtain between the world and myself. Closing my eyes, I thought,

So this is what it’s like to die.

And the world was no more, just…darkness.