Spirits

Walking, my head down, I was following paw tracks left in the freshly fallen snow. The tracks trailed neatly off into the distance. The snow sparkled under the sun and patches of blue sky. A few snow flakes were beginning to fall again as the sky began to change. I wasn’t really seeing the fat paw tracks or the sky or the falling snow. I was lost in the thoughts of my 17 year old self. I had to go back to school away from my boyfriend and this place that I loved.

I had escaped to a friend’s cabin in this white landscape in the woods. I needed to think. I needed some sanctuary. I walked alone for a long while. My eyes were turned inward within the silent snowy world.

Suddenly, a big white hare jumped across the cat tracks in front of me and awakened me to my surroundings. The hare shouted, “ You are not going to catch me for I know your tricks.” The hare zigged and zagged and ran helter skelter to the distant woods. I stopped and looked and listened and scanned the blue white snow for the cat. I could feel it’s presence nearby. I looked down at my feet and the cat tracks had doubled back. I had not even noticed. Now that cat is behind me, I thought and it is tracking me.. I turned to walk back to the cabin, hyper vigilant now. I forced myself not to run but kept walking at the same pace; calculating the distance to be some miles. I continued on, all my senses alive. My boots trudged on with great…