Blizzard

chapter 1

Toni was lost.

She was such an idiot. At least she'd run off instead of letting her destructive anger make her do something she'd regret.

But she'd run off at night. Into the forest. Without looking where she was going. She'd just kept running until her legs were numb. Once again she'd let her blinding rage lead her, without a sense of direction.

To top matters off, it had begun to snow.

Fuck. The snowstorm.

It had been announced all over the news today. At school, at the diner, at the Blackburn's. Anywhere with a radio or a tv, warning not to go outside after six pm, for then the blizzard was estimated to begin.

Toni looked at her phone.

6:14

And no signal.

Shit.

The snowfall was slowly starting to pick up. Toni looked around herself, trying to pinpoint where she was. She was surrounded by trees, boulders, and small hills, the rocky forest floor uneven.

It was mid-November so it was already dark. Very dark.

The wind had picked up, swaying the trees, blowing snowflakes in her face.

Toni closed her jacket and pulled the hood of her hoodie over her head. She was cooling down from her explosive run, slowly starting to really notice how cold it was.

She started walking in the direction she thought she possibly might have come from, wrapping her arms tightly around herself trying to preserve some warmth.

At least she'd had enough sense to take her jacket.

After a few minutes of walking, Toni still had no fucking clue whether she was going in the right direction. Her extremities were already numb from the cold and she was getting tired. She blew warm air into her tingling hands, trying to regain some feeling in her fingers.

The intensity of the snowstorm had increased to a point where she could see less than fifty yards in the distance.

Toni kept walking until she came upon a small rock overhang. It wasn't a cave or anything fancy, but it would shield her somewhat from the storm.

She knew sitting down now was probably the stupidest thing she could do. She would probably freeze to death, but Toni was just so fucking cold and tired. She just needed to sit down for a few minutes. Then she'd be fine. She'd keep going after she's had just a few minutes of rest.

Just a few minutes.

Toni sat down with her back against the rock wall and wrapped her arms around her knees.

She might as well close her eyes for a second. What was the harm?

***

Toni wasn't cold anymore. In fact, she was quite warm. So comfortably warm.

Either she was at home and the blizzard had all just been a dream or she was hypothermic and on the verge of death.

Toni was not in a sitting position anymore. She was lying on her side with her back against the rocky surface and her front against something warm.

And large.

And...fluffy?

She opened her eyes.

She couldn't really see anything because her face was buried in something warm and hairy. As she lifted her head she saw exactly what, or rather who, she was resting against.