Whirlwind 10th Anniversary Edition: Longfellow's Literary Magazine for 2019-2020

Whirlwind
All was black.
The moon hid behind the clouds, only faint rays
emerging to touch down. Just barely enough to see. A harsh
north wind blew across the snowy hills. Not a single living
creature was seen. This was the darkness of winter.
And yet a single pair of footprints trailed through the
snow, resolute and determined. A single girl, making her
way slowly across the field, boots crunching softly as the
wind roared fiercely around her.
Tears had frozen on the girl’s face, even though now
she had no memory of why she had even cried. Everything
seemed to have disappeared. Her memory. Her emotion.
Her name. Her very identity had been stripped away, much
like the scarf she had lost to the fierce blizzard earlier.
Or had there ever been a blizzard earlier? There must
have been something to explain this feeling of numbness.
She didn’t even feel cold anymore, just a hollow, inhuman
emptiness. It was as if something had cast a shadow over her
soul. One that would not go away. It was as if she had felt so
much that now she simply could not feel.
A thick mist lay over her thoughts, making them
sluggish and confusing. That feeling was now creeping into
her heart as well, only there was one thing the girl still held
on tightly to.
Hope.
Hoping that this dreadful snowy night would end. That
she would wake up, in a warm bed, and see that the snow
had all melted, and she would be able to go outside and
breathe in the sweet scent of Spring and—
Would it ever come? Would this just be the end?
Perhaps hope never existed at all. Perhaps this dark
Hope
By Victoria Z.
winter would last forever.
The wind howled sharply as if agreeing. And yet the girl
continued on, steps getting slower, but still moving forward
nonetheless.
Because like a fool, I still believe it exists.
Every time the girl stopped, when she wanted to give
up, that tiny familiar voice at the back of her mind would
whisper “just a little farther.” So just a little farther the girl
went. Again and again. Carving a path of footprints through
the snow. Until she finally stopped. Her fists clenched.
“This isn’t going to end, is it? So stop giving me false
hope!” She screamed into the darkness, tears sparkling in
her eyes. She angrily raised a hand to wipe them away.
More rose again, she didn’t bother this time. They
simply rolled down her cheeks silently, dropping down like
raindrops onto the snow. The girl lowered her head, arms
hugging her shaking body.
The wind blew harder, reminding the girl of her
loneliness. She hugged herself tighter until the silence was
broken. Footsteps, crunching in the snow.
Something warm brushed against the girl’s shoulder.
Surprised at the sudden warmth, she lifted her head but saw
nothing.
“You’re not alone, you know,” a voice softly rang out
from the emptiness.
The girl stared blankly at the space before her.
“Where are you?”
Silence. For a moment, the girl worried that the
mysterious person had disappeared. Then the voice spoke
again.
“I’m here with you. But you can’t see me.”
Rose ~Abigail S. Flower Close-up ~Abigail S.
34