You cock your head at the disappearance of the rabbit, but let out a large giggle anyway. As you wait for you rabbit to reappear, you crawl on top of the snow pile and fancy yourself a small snowman. He was 3 snowballs high with a leaf for a hat. There is a plethora of dead trees nearby, so you even fashioned him some arms. 2 small rocks took his place for eyes and a dampened vine-like plant gave him a smile. \n\nAs you admire your snowman, your rabbit friend appears from the snowman's head itself! The leaf blew up into the air from the strength of the rabbit's rupture. The rabbit twitched his nose and shook his head as the leaf fell back down onto his head. You giggle.\n\n[[Touch the rabbit]]\n[[What time is it?|Task]]

[[You look up at the sun. Woops, time to go!]]\n[[Time??]]

You slowly follow the fox. With his back turned and his shaggy tail, covered in overgrown fur and what looks like moss, waving back and forth, you feel entranced. His old, gruff look radiants a sad feeling. You can't help but feel bad for the old fox, but you follow behind him like a drone, anyway.\n\nYou're not exactly sure why you're following him, either. His eyes beckoned you from afar, and you felt compelled to. Nothing more. The fact that a dangerous creature is leading you into the woods doesn't bother you at all. He's old and frail, and possibly fragile. He wouldn't put up much of a fight. \n\nYou come to a clearing in the woods. It's been a long time since you've walked the trail with your parents, but you don't quite recall clearing in the woods. The path just fades off, there's nowhere else to go.\n\n\nWhat time is it?\n[[It's still day.]]\n[[It's night time.]]

The gray clouds outside create a dark, dreary atmosphere in your room. It feels darker than it should be and it's just a tad chilly. The rain is shy, but knocks on your window gently. It beckons you and you crawl over your bed to look outside at the aforementioned dreary day. \n\nIt's winter break, and so far it's only been slightly rainy. It feels more like a spring break, to be quite honest; Majorly from the lack of snow. It threatened to snow once, but at the last minute the scales tipped to exactly 0 degrees and it rained instead. Last year winter break came early from a major snowstorm that landed 2 and a half feet of snow - a record for the date. \n\nAs you dreamily stare out the window, you exhale deeply, causing the window to fog up in a perfect circle. You stare at it and then write something in the fog.\n\nWhat did you write?\n[[Fun]]\n[[Sad]]\n[[Cute]]\n

You follow the pawprints and hoofprints deep into the woods. The crunchy leaves become less crunchy and damp. Soon enough, it started to snow and the landscape ahead changed slightly.\n\nThe further you walk, the more snow lay upon the ground. It was as if in all the city, this one spot snowed instead of rained. You didn't question it, though. Snow was much more fun than rain! At this point, the tracks blended with the snow and some of them were getting filled in. They became harder and harder to read, up to the point where you hoped you weren't lost.\n\nYou kept trodding through the snow, glad you had tall rubber boots on instead of sneakers; they'd be full of snow by now. You trod to the top of a snowbank, or snowhill, which was as high as half of the trees in the surrounding area. At the top, you surveyed your surroundings, but nothing but snow riddled trees surrounded you similarly on all sides. You let out a small shiver when you hear a chirp behind you. You turn and notice the rabbit you followed in.\n\nYou slide down the hill, letting out a noise of discomfort as you rub your now-cold toushe and greet the rabbit. The rabbit's calm blue eyes look up at you, beam, even. The discomfort of coldness no longer bothers you as you near the rabbit. Upon closer inspection, you notice small golden antlers protruding from its head. They had a soft glow to them and they looked intricately carved. You let out your hand to pet it but it hops away and dives head first into the snow.\n\n[[Follow suit]]\n[[Do other fun snow things!]]

You dive after the rabbit into the snow pile but find yourself with a face full of cold snow. As you dig around in the snow, trying to find the rabbit, you come across some ice; the only downside to winter.\n\n[[Get out of the snow|Do other fun snow things!]]\n[[Brush the snow away]]

With a big sigh of disappointment you saunter you way home silently. At least it's not raining. The stars twinkle in the sky and the moon shares his light, guiding you home.\n\nWith sore soles, you turn the corner to see your house. Only one light is on - the living room. Someone must be waiting for you. You pick up the pace with high hopes.\n\nYou open the door ajar at first, listening for anyone around. When all sounds silent, you feel a mixture of relief and sadness. No one to yell at you, but won't they be mad in the morning? You start to ponder the idea of them launching a search party.\n\nYou close the door just as gently as you opened it, but something stirs from the lit room. You, as quiet as you can, take off your rain gear and peer around the corner.\n\nIn a rocking chair lies your father. Despite stirring earlier, he is asleep now. His cell phone lies on his chest and a dog lie at his feet. You whisper a 'shh' to the dog and take a step into the room. \n\nYour father stirs again, but stays awake this time. He rubs an eye and sits up proper and looks right at you - the elephant in the room.\n\nYou both slowly grow a smile across your faces as you run to embrace him.\n\n"We thought we lost you," he says, "We were going to assemble a search party!"\n"I'm here now!" you respond. "You won't believe what happened, but can we still have a party?"\n\n[img[Fox_Night.png]]

You don't give up in your search for the rabbit. You push the snow away and investigate the ice. The ice is thick and it seems to span the entire of the snow hill. Now it made sense that the hill was so high. \n\nCaptivated by the glistening ice, you see your rabbit friend underneath you. You realize, now, that it's an ice tunnel as it hops away further down the tube. You shimmy after it, pushing snow aside like a little man-made snow plough, all the while uncovering the ice tunnel. \n\nAs you push your way through, you meet a corner. You meet this corner by falling off of it. Luckily, it is hardly a hard fall. When you turn around the face the tunnel you fell off of, you notice that it has an opening on this end.\n\n[[Keep going from above]]\n[[Keep going from inside]]

You make your way home by the familiar street lamps; Their friendly glow guiding you. You wonder what time it is, since you don't have a watch and glace up. You see your house on the corner and you speed up towards it in a light jog.\n\nThe lights are still on, but the silhouettes in the windows don't show a welcoming sight. It looks like your mother and father are fighting, yelling at each other, and pointing fingers.\n\nYou cautiously make your way to the door and open it ajar. You overhear your parents screaming at each other, or more specifically, blaming. You hear your own name get mentioned a few times.\n\nYou sneak into the main hallway and slowly undress from your rainy day attire. You slink into the doorway of the living room where your parents are shouting. You don't say a word, but they still notice you and give you an evil, angry and disappointed stare. \n\n"Where were YOU, missy?" your mother barks, pointing fingers.\n"Your sister is DEAD because of you!" You father erupts, snatching the lantern from you. You let out a small whine and your mother gets down on one knee. \n"It's all your fault!"\n\nThe jar starts to glow. \n\n[img[Fox_Hers.png]]

You stop at the edge of the clearing. There isn't any more path and like a good child you will not keep going. However, the fox looks over his shoulder at you and keeps walking.\n\nWhile you are enticed by his swagger, you make a notion to leave. The fox, with his back you, slowly and painfully climbs on top of a log. He howls.\n\nSuddenly, the sun fast-forwards and the moon takes its place. The stars twinkle, and there's not a cloud in the sky. You can pick out the Big Dipper. The tall trees hide the Little Dipper, however.\n\nWhile you are looking up, you notice the area around you becomes very bright with a warming yellow glow. Glass jars hung from tree branches with twine... That's what's glowing. All around you, on the edge of the clearing, as well as deeper into the woods. The calming ambient light makes you second guess wanting to leave, however you are still very wary about what happened in the sky. \n\nYou wander over to the jars and look inside of them, but they are completely empty. You question what you're seeing - empty, yet glowing jars? You wonder if it's the glass itself that's glowing.\n\nThe fox chirps at you, a beckon, and you turn to face it. He nods his head for you to sit in front of him. You do so, sitting Indian style, taking off your jacket. The warm light gives the illusion of physical warmth as well.\n\nThe fox tells a story, but no words are exchanged. He looks into your eyes, and you feel it in your heart. It's a heartbreaking story. Of sadness, of lonliness, of death... Even though he finishes his story, you can't help but gaze at him, into his blue eyes. They are dull, but not yet lifeless. \n\nSuddenly, the fox jumps away behind the log. You shift your weight to one side in hopes to peer behind the log. You see nothing and you resume a lax sitting posture. You look at the ground in front of you and close your eyes. You feel tired.\n\nSuddenly, the fox jumps back onto the log from behind. In his mouth is a [[glowing lantern|Yours]]...[[empty lantern|Hers]]

All of the stores are closed. It seems to be midnight.\n\n[[Rush home]]

You look up at the sky. The sun is beaming at you and the sky is a radiant blue. From all the playing it has gotten warm enough for you to take off your coat. You walk to the edge of the field to hang up your coat and you toddle back to your yawning friend. You resume your position next to her, laying down this time, and she puts her head on your tummy. \n\nAs you lie in the soft grass and stare at the cloudless sky, your eyes become heavy. The sweet sound of spring, and a gentle, caressing breeze mazing its way through the grass lulls you to sleep.\n\n[img[Deer_Lost_Ending.png]]

The footprints are made of snow!\n\n[[Follow them]]

In his mouth dangles a glowing lantern, identical to the ones hanging on the trees. He is holding it by the twine and gives you plenty of room to take it. As you reach for the lantern, the others around you dim their light until they are no longer glowing. Yours, however, still glows. You look around you in the clearing; You didn't see the lights 'turn off' yourself. It just suddenly got a lot darker. However, as you look at the trees nearby, nothing is hanging from them. No twine, no jar, no light. \n\nYou look back at the fox, who is now showing a skeletal face. The fur has fallen off and the wind picks it up and drifts it away. As you watch small patches of fur dance up into the sky, you suddenly notice a whole bunch of fur- a whole pelt even. You look back down at the fox and his fur seamlessly falls off into the wind. Once his fur had danced away, his bones turned to dust and follow suit. Nothing was left, not even his shadow. \n\nYou were alone except for the glow of the lantern. All that he left you.\n\n[[Rush home!]]

The rain is still only shy falling from the sky. You open your umbrella anyway, just in case it wants to get to know you better. There are puddles on the ground; it must have rained harder earlier. You look into the puddle and see yourself looking back. You smile, you frown, you stick out your tongue and your reflection does the same. You giggle and your reflection and wave goodbye to them and go along your journey.\n\nYour reflection goes on theirs.\n\nYou keep on your journey to the store, your paper in hand. You hope your parents don't mind if you lollygag a bit, though. Despite being gray and gloomy, now that you're outside it's not so bad. Despite being winter, it smells like spring because of the light sprinkle in the air. It's a special feeling, because the joyous festivities also hang in the air. The feel of spring AND holidays? What a wonderful feeling!\n\nYou walk through the park which has a trail through the forest, too. The path your on diverges off into a Y, where you are on the long part, and the small parts are trails. The left most path goes into the woods and the right most goes to the other side of park onto the main street.\n\nWhat did you see in the woods?\n[[A deer]]\n[[Nothing?]]

The rain is still only shy falling from the sky. You open your umbrella anyway, just in case it wants to get to know you better. There are puddles on the ground; it must have rained harder earlier. You look into the puddle and see yourself looking back. You smile, you frown, you stick out your tongue and your reflection does the same. You giggle and your reflection and wave goodbye to them and go along your journey.\n\nYour reflection goes on theirs.\n\nYou keep on your journey to the store, your paper in hand. You hope your parents don't mind if you lollygag a bit, though. Despite being gray and gloomy, now that you're outside it's not so bad. Despite being winter, it smells like spring because of the light sprinkle in the air. It's a special feeling, because the joyous festivities also hang in the air. The feel of spring AND holidays? What a wonderful feeling!\n\nYou walk through the park which has a trail through the forest, too. The path your on diverges off into a Y, where you are on the long part, and the small parts are trails. The left most path goes into the woods and the right most goes to the other side of park onto the main street.\n\nWhat did you see in the woods?\n\n[[A rabbit]]\n[[Nothing?]]\n

The rain is stilly only shy falling from the sky. You open your umbrella anyway, just in case it wants to get to know you better. There are puddles on the ground; it must have rained harder earlier. You look into the puddle and see yourself looking back. You smile, you frown, you stick out your tongue and your reflection does the same. You giggle and your reflection and wave goodbye to them and go along your journey.\n\nYour reflection goes on theirs.\n\nYou keep on your journey to the store, your paper in hand. You hope your parents don't mind if you lollygag a bit, though. Despite being gray and gloomy, now that you're outside it's not so bad. Despite being winter, it smells like spring because of the light sprinkle in the air. It's a special feeling, because the joyous festivities also hang in the air. The feel of spring AND holidays? What a wonderful feeling!\n\nYou walk through the park which has a trail through the forest, too. The path your on diverges off into a Y, where you are on the long part, and the small parts are trails. The left most path goes into the woods and the right most goes to the other side of park onto the main street.\n\nWhat did you see in the woods?\n\n[[A fox]]\n[[Nothing?]]

You giggle and run towards the rabbit. Its pure white fur stood out in the dark forest like a ghost. When you make it to the edge of the woods, peering in, you notice some white fuzzy foot prints on the ground. They are about rabbit sized, so you follow them. They stray the path, however.\n\nAs you make your way into the woods, more and more white footprints appear. They are in all different shapes and sizes - rabbit, deer, fox, wolf... a plethora of animals! \n\nOdd, though, that the tracks are pure white.\n\n[[Inspect them]]\n[[Follow them]]

In his mouth dangles an empty lantern, identical to the ones hanging on the trees. He is holding it by the twine and gives you plenty of room to take it. As you reach for the lantern, the others around you dim their light until they are no longer glowing. You look around you in the clearing; You didn't see the lights 'turn off' yourself. It just suddenly got a lot darker. However, as you look at the trees nearby, nothing is hanging from them. No twine, no jar, no light. \n\nYou look back at the fox but he is gone. No trace. No fur, no shadow - Nothing. You are alone and it is dark and spooky. You slowly turn around and walk your way out of the woods, holding the lantern close to you. \n\nOutside, in the park, it is still very much nighttime. Much too late for you to do any last minute shopping.\n\n[[Go home!]]

Stray

You notice a fox looking back at you in the crook of the woods where the path enters. He is a very muddy red colour, much less vibrant that what you know from picture books. The fur around his muzzle is gray and his fur is shaggy. You lock eyes and you [[follow him.|Fox]]

You come home empty handed except for a white rabbit. Your mother, on the other hand, is mad that you didn't bring anything home, period! You argue, saying that you SAVED this rabbit, and that it was much more important than a few groceries. She huffs at you and angrily says she'll do it herself and grabs her coat, muttering something about imaginary animals.\n\nYou march upstairs into your room and set your friend down gently on your bed. The spot becomes damp - it is a snow rabbit, after all - and you ponder what to name it. You think about the name Spirit, but you are unsure whether or not that's too obvious.\n\nThe car outside revvs up and squeals away down the street, your mother now muttering something about winter tires.\n\n\n[img[Rabbit_Snow.png]]

You back track a little ways and peer your head into the tube. It is just barely big enough for you to fit though. \n\nAs you crawl your way through the tunnels, excited but also nervous, you see the rabbit rushing towards you. You try to shimmy backwards but it doesn't seem fast enough for the rabbit and prepare for a head on collision.\n\nInstead, you get a face full of water. The rabbit splashes in your face as it collides with you and materialized into snow again behind you. You marvel at this trick and continue to shimmy backwards hopefully towards an exit. \n\nAs you slowly inch your way towards the end, and eventually out, you notice the sky outside is much darker than you would have guessed. Navigating the ice tunnel with a blanket of snow must have been very disorienting.\n\nThe rabbit look up at you perched on top of the glassy maze. You smile at it and motion to pet it and it rears back away from you. You retreat you hand and simply bid farewell to it softly. You almost think his nose twitched more furiously, as if it say [[farewell.]]

Through having so much fun playing in the snow, you completely miss that the sun is setting. You only notice when a shrill breeze catches you by surprise.\n\nYou smile at the rabbit and dig your way out of the snow. The rabbit follows you, watching curiously. As you empty your boots of snow, you tell the rabbit you must leave and go do something very important. You also wish to see it again before the end of your break, maybe again closer to home, you add.\n\nYou wave to the rabbit and his nose twitches intensely, his horns emitting a more noticeable glow and the sunlight faded. Outside and back in the park, the bell tower struck 4. In the winter, the sky got dark early. You swore it could have been closer to 6.\n\nYou scurry along the busying streets, accompanied by slowly lit street lamps. You think to yourself that you have excellent timing, considering all the stores closed at 5. \n\nOn your way home, arms full of items from a list, you feel something cold on your nose. You assume it's just a breeze, but then you feel one on your cheek; And then your brow. And suddenly, they were falling everywhere!\n\n"Thanks, Rabbit." You mention to no one, watching the snowflakes fall gracefully onto the damp pavement.\n\n[img[Rabbit_Snow.png]]

Once outside, you open your umbrella. You get to the sidewalk and the rain starts to loudly tap on your shelter. It's still a gentle rain, but you want to hurry to the store and hurry back before you get drenched.\n\n[[You go to your destinated store and buy whatever is on your list.]]

You look down the path of the forest and just see dark trees on a dark path. In fact, it almost looks scary! You shuffle along, the rain now knocking on your umbrella as if it wants to get in.\n\n[[You go to your destinated store and buy whatever is on your list.]]

You run, and run, and run, ever following the path. You've never walked off the path into the woods. Along the path are many lightly beaten trails from adventurous wanderers but you have a gut feeling that you shouldn't trust them. You just keep running.\n\nYou keep your ears open for the sound of the deer, but you cannot hear it. You've also made it to the end of the trail and are now on the other side of the park on a busy street.\n\nWill you [[go back|Where did it go?]] or [[finish your parent's task?|You go to your destinated store and buy whatever is on your list.]]

With the jar held tightly in your arms, you make a full turn and bolt out of the woods. The entrance is surprisingly close but you don't stop to take a breather and you completely forget about going to the store. You figured it was past closing time, anyway.\n\nYou make it home and the lights are still on. You are relieved. You just want to go inside, give your parents a hug, and possibly cry. They must be worried sick!\n\nYou make it to the doorstep before you can hear vicious sobbing coming from your mother. She makes incoherent babble and your father does a terrible job of comforting her. He, too, sounds sad and worried, however.\n\nYou open the door and bust in, holding the lantern by the string.\n"Mom! Dad! I'm here! Stop crying!" you shout at them with a worried smile on your face. They completely ignore you. You shout louder at them and take a few steps, even going so far to tugging on their shirt.\n\nFrom the living room, a cop comes out into the hallway wearing his hallmark black uniform and yellow stripes. He hands both of your parents a coffee.\n\n"I'm sorry Mr and Mrs. We have no leads yet on what killed your daughter. Her body was..." he paused. You paused. "So mutilated, we can't pinpoint a weapon of assault."\n\nYou drop your lantern.\nIt shatters.\n\n[img[Fox_Yours.png]]

You stop at the edge of the clearing. There isn't any more path and like a good child you will not keep going. However, the fox looks over his shoulder at you and keeps walking. You've been walking for a long time now, and you've made many attempts to leave. Attempts. Every time you turn around, you seem to turn into the fox walking forwards again. It's almost like you do a 360 spin, but you know for sure you're only turning around once. It seems whichever direction you look the fox is there, walking. You stopped wondering which direction you were going a long time ago. You were walking North, towards the college which is on the other side of the woods. South is home. At this point you could be walking east; Who knows.\n\nThe stars twinkle, and there's not a cloud in the sky. You can pick out the Big Dipper. The tall trees hide the Little Dipper, however. The moon shares his light with you, but otherwise it is dark.\n\nWhile you are looking up, you notice the area around you becomes very bright with a warming yellow glow. Glass jars hung from tree branches with twine... That's what's glowing. All around you, on the straight path, as well as deeper into the woods. The calming ambient light makes you second guess wanting to leave, however you are still very weary.\n\nYou wander over to the jars and look inside of them. Inside are moths, glowing with an orange light. You question what you're seeing. As far as you know, no moth glows; Maybe it's a new species?\n\nThe fox chirps at you, a beckon, and you turn to face it. He nods his head for you to sit in front of him. You do so, sitting with your legs straight out in front of you, you take off your jacket - the warm light gives the illusion of physical warmth as well.\n\nThe fox tells a story, but no words are exchanged. He looks into your eyes, and you feel it in your heart. It's an angry story. Of fear, of lonliness, of craze... Even though he finishes his story, you can't help but gaze at him, into his yellow eyes. They are dull, but not yet lifeless. Familiar. \n\nSuddenly, the fox jumps away behind the log. You shift your weight to one side in hopes to peer behind the log. You see nothing and you resume a lax sitting posture. You look at the ground in front of you and close your eyes. You feel tired, and you close your eyes. \n\nThe fox doesn't return, and after what feels like a long time you decide to get up to leave. You turn around, expecting to see the same scenery behind you. You keep your eyes closed and take a deep breath. Your open your eyes. You are only a few feet into the woods - you can see outside. Confused, you exit into the park. The sky is still dark. The moon is lightly nudged and it proves to you some time has passed - more so than what's obvious. \n\n[[Go to the store]]\n[[Rush home]]

You run, and run, and run, ever following the path. You've never walked off the path into the woods. From your left you hear the deer prancing around in the damp grass. Your umbrella won't fit through the dense trees and you decide to close it and put it in your pocket. Luckily your coat has a hood and you pull that up over your head. You take a breath of confidence before running headfirst into the woods and then dash right in. \n\nIt's not before you see the deer, frolicking about in a field of flowers. It's sunny now, but your mad dash and blown down your hood already. You never knew there was such a lush field in the woods! And, despite being winter, spring blossoms blanket the field. You wonder if you ran that long, that the seasons changed already! \n\nYou join the deer in her frolicking in the field. You chase her and grab her like a game of tag. You throw flower petals at her and that makes her sneeze. When you both are all out of breath, you lie down in the grass. You pant, but with a wild grin on your face. She lies down next to you and lays her head in the grass. \n\nAfter a while of resting, you sit up and start to tie together the stems of nearby flowers. You only pick the white flowers to make your crown with. The deer raises her head to rest it on your knee to watch your handiwork. She closes her eyes when you place your finished creation on her head. You pet her and she huffs happily, ready for a nap.\n\n[[What time is it?]]

You keep crawling on top of the ice tube, pushing away the snow in your path. You marvel and the complexity of this ice labyrinth and wonder if the rabbit made it himself. As you carelessly chase the rabbit, you suddenly notice it hopping in the opposite direction. You look behind yourself at the fleeing rabbit and ponder if ahead in a dead end. Intent of following it, your turn around and start shimmying down the ice tube the other way.\n\nAs you start to shimmy, you hear a snarl. A deep, rumbly, thunderous snarl from behind you. You are scared to look, but you're also scared not to look. Your curiosity gets the better of you and you turn around. White daggers face you and drool on your clothes.\n\nYou scream for your life and run. Your first few steps are messy, but you manage to avoid the wolf's maw. While you run strait, you notice the rabbit has to run zig-zags in its glassy maze. Luckily, the wolf seems to have more interest in that than you and it starts biting at the ice. \n\nDespite being safe, you call out to the wolf, hoping to distract it. Your plan worked, and whether you think that is lucky or bad is up to you. The wolf snaps his head up and his gaze pierces your soul, mentally shattering you for only a sliver of a moment. From an icy cage, a hole melts and out hops the rabbit. You outreach your arms and catch the rabbit and run out of the forest, hoping the wolf did not follow your suit.\n\n[[Run home!]]

You notice a deer looking back at you in the crook of the woods where the path enters. The shy, tiny deer has spots on its back; it must be just a baby. Your ears tingle at the sound of its cry as it dashes back into the woods. Worried, you decide to [[follow it.|Deer]]

"Cute!"\n\nDespite only being written, you feel like the word echoes through the room. Your finger draws a little heart after the E. You lightly giggle. The warmth of your room causes the foggy patch to slowly fade away, yet your finger marks remain very slightly on the window. Your gasp and wipe it away as quickly as you can. Your father always told you it was bad to write on windows.\n\nOn that note, you hear your father calling you from downstairs. He asks if you can go run an errand for him. You are a good child and you rightfully agree. \n\nWith your raincoat, rubber boots and hat in hand, your father leans over and hands you a small paper with some words on it. You can the static of the T.V from the other room. You try to peek behind your father to inquire about what he's doing but he directs your attention to himself. He lightly grabs your chin and looks you in the eye. "Here is some money. If you'd like, you can buy yourself a treat for being such a good girl." He smiles and kisses you on the forehead. You giggle, nod, and open the door.\n\n"Oh!" you gasp audibly. Your turn around quickly, only to see your father holding your umbrella that you had forgotten. He hands it to you and you pass her a sheepish smile and go on your way.\n\n[[Take the long way, enjoy the rain!|3]]\n[[I hate the rain, go the short way!]]

You notice a rabbit looking back at you in the crook of the woods where the path enters. It is about the size of your head. His eyes seem to be a shimmering beacon of hope and you [[follow it.|Rabbit]]

You chase after the deer into the woods. Luckily it stays on the path. You've walked this path many times with your parents and know where it leads and how to walk back home, so you don't mind running so quickly in the woods. You can hear its noises from up ahead and push yourself to run a little further.\n\n[[I can't find it!]]\n[[Where did it go?]]\n

"Sad.".\n\nDespite only being written, you feel like the word echoes through the room. Your finger holds the period at the end as if to emphasize it. You sigh again. The warmth of your room causes the foggy patch to slowly fade away, yet your finger marks remain very slightly on the window. Your furrow your brow and wipe your hand across the window. Your mother always told you it was bad to write on windows.\n\nOn that note, you hear your mother calling you from downstairs. She shouts that your sister is sick and that she wants you to go to the store while she takes care of her. You are a good child and you rightfully agree. \n\nWith your raincoat, rubber boots and hat in hand, your mother leans over and hands you a small list of groceries. You can hear your baby sister crying from the living room. You try to peek behind your mother to inquire about the crying child and she directs your attention to herself. She lightly grabs your chin and looks you in the eye. "Here is some money. "If you'd like, you can buy yourself a treat for being such a good girl." She smiles and kisses you on the forehead. You giggle, nod, and open the door.\n\n"Oh!" you gasp audibly. Your turn around quickly, only to see your mother holding your umbrella that you had forgotten. She hands it to you and you pass her a sheepish smile and go on your way.\n\n[[Take the long way, enjoy the rain!|2]]\n[[I hate the rain, go the short way!]]

"Fun!"\n\nDespite only being written, you feel like the word echoes through the room. Your finger draws a happy face after the N. You smile at the word. The warmth of your room causes the foggy patch to slowly fade away, yet your finger marks remain very slightly visible on the window. Your frown and wipe your hand across the window. Your mother always told you it was bad to write on windows.\n\nOn that note, you hear your mother calling you from downstairs. She shouts and asks if you can go to the store for her to pick up a few things. You are a good child and you rightfully agree. \n\nWith your raincoat, rubber boots and hat in hand, your mother leans over and hands you a small list of groceries. The sound of a whistling kettle distracts you and you peek behind her to inquire what she's cooking. She lightly grabs your chin and looks you in the eye. "Here is some money. If you'd like, you can buy yourself a treat for being such a good girl." She smiles and kisses you on the forehead. You giggle, nod, and open the door.\n\n"Oh!" you gasp audibly. Your turn around quickly, only to see your mother holding your umbrella that you had forgotten. She hands it to you and you pass her a sheepish smile and go on your way.\n\n[[Take the long way, enjoy the rain!|1]]\n[[I hate the rain, go the short way!]]

It's hard to carry your umbrella with all this stuff in your arms! You carry one bag on your tiny hand and one in your arm while holding the umbrella. The rain is harder now and you shuffle home faster.\n\nUpon arriving home, your parent thanks you for running the errand and takes the groceries from you. They ruffle your hair and kiss you as you quickly undress yourself from your wet garb. You make sure to take out the candy you bought for your raincoat pocket before moseying on upstairs back to your bed. \n\nAs you sit on your bed, munching away, you look outside at the dreary, gloomy, wet weather and imagine what could have been. This is going to be a long vacation.

You motion to pet him again. \n\nThe rabbit reared back, avoiding your hand. It had nowhere to go and couldn't retreat back into the snowman fast enough. As your hand touched the soft fur between his hears, there was an audible fizzling noise. And then a screech.\n\nYou pull your hand back into your chest. The rabbit in front of you screams an ear piercing cry and it melts before you in pain. There was no blood, though. You rationed that the rabbit was made from snow, and you gasped in horror as you watched your ignorance kill the magical creature. \n\nAs the rabbit slowly melted away, so did the snow around you. You were too stunned to get up, though, even though you were getting soaked. \n\nWhen all the snow around you melted completely, you felt the cold stares of other entities pierce through you. Covering your mouth, with tears running down your cheeks, you ran out of the woods towards home - completely ignoring your assigned task.\n\nOnce home, you burst through the door with hysterical tears. Your mother, luckily nearby, comes to your shrieking aid. Your baby sister is now crying, too.\n\n"Honey your soaked!" she says, looking at your clothes. "Did it really rain that badly?"\n\nYou could do nothing but stare at her. What a stupid question.\n\n[img[Rabbit_Winterless.png]]\n

You meander your way out of the wooded area into the open park. The bell tower strikes 4 right then with its iconic 4 gong bell ringing across the town. You think to yourself that you have excellent timing, considering all the stores closed at 5. \nOn your way home, arms full of items from a list, you feel something cold on your nose. You assume it's just a breeze, but then you feel one on your cheek; And then your brow. And suddenly, they were falling everywhere!\n\n"Thanks, Rabbit." You mention to no one, watching the snowflakes fall gracefully onto the damp pavement.\n\n\n[img[Rabbit_Snow.png]]

You look at the sky and put your hand over your face to block out the sun's beaming rays. You notice something white in your sleeve and you tug on it; It's a piece of paper. Upon inspection, you sit up in a jolt. The deer wakes up and looks at your with big confused eyes. You gently hush the deer and pet it, explaining why you must go. \n\nYou stand up carefully and stretch. You could live here - it's so peaceful! As you walk towards the edge of the field you turn around the wave at the deer, but it's already gone. No sight of the crown, either. You shrug; Maybe it got sad and ran off.\n\nYou pick up your raincoat and walk back to the path. It has stopped raining, but the sky is not yet completely clear. Blue peeks out from gray, though. Maybe the clouds are coming back?\n\nYou make your way to the store and pick up the items your parents asked for. On your way home, you stopped by the puddle you saw earlier and look down. Your reflection, empty handed and coatless, waves back at you. Spooked, but polite, your wave back the best you can with all the items in your arms. \n\nConfused, however, you rush back home. Your parent greets you and takes the objects from you thankful. They kiss you on the forehead and head off into the other room. You take your clothes off and throw them in the corner, careful to remember the candy you bought earlier. \n\nYou make your way upstairs and sit on the edge of the bed, pigging out. You take a shy glance out the window at a puddle to see if you can catch a glimpse of your reflection. The angle is wrong, and the puddle just reflects the sky, though. A nice, big, blue patch of sky where a friend waits longingly for you to return to play.\n\n[img[Deer_Good_Ending.png]]

Alexandre "Moose" Fletcher