Winter
Chapter 3

Miyuki had run until she could run no more. She looked back in the direction from which she had just come and found no sign of Haru. Feeling somewhat relieved, she rested against a tree and caught her breath. “Why is this happening to me?” she asked.

Retrieving her phone from her pocket, Miyuki raised it high and attempted to get a signal. Unfortunately she was at far too great a distance from civilization to find one.

Unbeknownst to Miyuki, a thick sheet of ice had formed on the other side of the tree and was now growing upward at an alarming rate.

A rustling somewhere within the woods startled Miyuki so badly that she practically jumped away from the tree. This prompted the ice to slowly recede.

“Haru-chan, is that you?” she asked nervously. “Did you come to tell me that the joke is over?” More rustling forced Miyuki to back away timidly. “Haru-chan?” When the rustling got too close for comfort, Miyuki stopped asking questions and began a hasty retreat.

Shortly after Miyuki’s escape, a fox that had given her quite the scare emerged from its hiding place. Immediately thereafter, an unknown presence shot out from behind a tree and was upon the fox with frightening quickness.

Haru was far from being as fleet of foot as Miyuki and was a sizable distance behind. The fact that his head was in extreme pain from his wife’s rock attack also put him at a distinct disadvantage.

“Miyuki-chan!” he shouted. “Come back! I promise I won’t hurt you! Let’s forget about this and go home!” When he received no response, he grew angry. “Bitch, you had better hope I never find you! Look at what you did to me!”

After taking some time to calm down, Haru called out to Miyuki again. “What makes you think you can get away?” he shouted. “I’m following your footprints! There’s nowhere you can hide where I can’t find you!”

There was dead silence after the shouting. So quiet was it that Haru could hear clearly approaching footsteps from behind. When they had come too close for his comfort, Haru spun around, knife ready to strike. There was no one there.

With no impending danger to deal with, Haru turned back around to continue his pursuit, but a most unsettling scene was awaiting him. The footprints that he had been following had all been wiped out and covered with fresh snow.

Miyuki lost her footing while she was running and fell to the ground. The back of her throat burned from the cold air she had been inhaling, making it difficult for her to breathe.

“I can’t take this anymore,” sobbed Miyuki, tears filling her eyes.

A sudden chilling wind swept across Miyuki’s face like a gentle caress. Lifting her head, Miyuki found something in the distance. It was difficult to tell from so far away, but it looked as if someone had built a snowman in a clearing. Miyuki got back to her feet and immediately made her way toward it.

The air almost seemed to be getting colder as Miyuki entered the clearing. And as she grew nearer to the snowman, she could see that it was made crudely out of three large balls of snow with twigs for arms. Unlike most snowmen, it had no face.

Miyuki laid her hand upon the snowman. “Who made this?” she wondered. “Hello,” she called out. “Is there anyone here? I need help.”

Something compelled Miyuki to walk around to the other side of the snowman. Her eyes bulged and her breathing immediately stopped when she found what was waiting for her on the other side. The snowman had been hollowed out and inside was a dead fox that had been torn to shreds. Fresh blood nearly completely covered the entire half of the snowman.

Miyuki screamed at the top of her lungs before fleeing.

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