Thanks for the Avalanche, Babe

The next morning, we packed up and kept climbing.Altitude: nineteen thousand feet.The air was razor-thin. Every step felt like dragging a mountain behind me.We split into three groups.I was in the second.Keegan was supposed to be with me.Then, right before we left, he switched."Ada's not doing great. I'll hang back with the third group and keep an eye on her."He looked at me."Stay close to Edward. Don't fall behind."I nodded.All morning, I kept spotting him behind us.He stayed glued to Ada, reaching out whenever she wobbled.On a patch of loose rock, she slipped sideways.Keegan caught her by the waist and pulled her upright.Still rattled, Ada pressed a hand to her chest and smiled up at him."Keegan, if you weren't here, I would've rolled straight down the mountain."He smiled back."Take smaller steps. Plant your feet before you move. No need to rush."Ahead of me, Edward glanced back with a frown."Your boyfriend's pretty 'attentive.'"I said nothin

My consciousness kept cutting in and out.Like a busted switch.Light.Dark.The crevasse was about fifteen feet deep.Blue-gray ice walls boxed me in, slick as glass.Broken ice and packed snow covered the bottom.Curled up against the wall, I couldn't feel my body anymore.My fingers were frozen stiff, locked so tight they wouldn't move.My lips were cracked open.Blood seeped out, then froze into dark red scabs.I tried to scream.The second the sound left my throat, the wind tore it apart.No one could hear me.He'd said two hours.I had no idea how long it had been.My body heat drained away, degree by degree.My thoughts blurred.Then my mind started drifting to random things.I thought about the first time I met Keegan.We were in the university library.He sat across from me, buried in a thick geology textbook.Sunlight spilled through the window and hit the side of his face.Then he looked up.And smiled.That smile stopped me cold.I thought about th

Tromsø, Norway.Three hundred kilometers north of the Arctic Circle.When the plane landed, snow stretched forever beyond the window.But this snow felt different.Quiet.Soft.It covered the little cabin roofs like thick blankets.Shawn rented two cabins across a narrow path, both facing the fjord.He never tried to move into mine.Never pushed to get closer.Every morning, he left breakfast outside my door, knocked twice, and walked away."Don't you have work?""I'm on break. I take a month off every winter.""You come here every year?""Yeah. It's quiet."That was Shawn.He didn't talk much.Didn't push.He just stayed close, steady as a rock.For the first few days, I did nothing.I curled up on the rug, wrapped in a blanket, watching snow drift past the window in endless layers.My body was still healing.My frostbitten fingers would suddenly burn with sharp pain.The cracked skin on my left foot made me limp.But none of that hurt the most.The worst part

Nina's POVA month later, I came back from Norway.The frostbite on my fingers had mostly healed. Fresh skin covered the sores on my left foot.But the biggest change wasn't physical.The crevasse in my heart had finally closed.When I got back, I did three things.First, I changed my number.Second, I moved across town, far from Keegan's building.Third, I threw myself into work.The second Sadie saw me, she looked me over from head to toe.Then she let out a long breath."Good. The light's back in your eyes."I landed a huge commercial shoot for an outdoor brand.For the next two months, the whole team lived at work. I'd spend every night in the studio editing until after midnight. Whenever I got exhausted, I'd put my head down on the desk and steal a quick nap.I was so busy, I barely had time to think.Sometimes I'd wake up in the middle of the night.Outside my window, the city glowed with warm amber lights.Not that icy blue-gray light from the crevasse.That wa

Keegan never showed up again.Sadie said he quit his job at the research institute and left town.No one knew where he went.Some said Tibermont.Others said Sinjarvia.Some remote, empty place where almost no one lived.Ada left too.She went back to her hometown and, from what I heard, got married.Maybe she never understood what really happened.Maybe she did and chose not to face it.Either way, it didn't matter anymore.Those people. Those memories.They became like the avalanche.They hit hard...Then vanished beneath endless layers of ice.I stayed in the city.Taking photos.Editing them.Picking up commercial shoots here and there.Holding the occasional exhibition.I moved my studio from downtown to an industrial park on the edge of town.Three times the space.Half the rent.A small grove sat outside my window.Every fall, the leaves turned gold.Sadie stopped by once a week with homemade soup."Nina, you lost weight again.""I did not.""You did.