girl in white

it was snowing, sleeting. the wind was howling, like an enourmous monster, circling and banging against the windows of the car.

“how many more miles?” she asked. she was feeling restless, trapped in the passenger seat.

“not sure,” he replied, eyes laser focused on the road.

they descended into tense silence. the pine trees blurring through the frost were like long, ghostly fingers, reaching toward the sky.

from what they could see, the road was nondescript. the ice blanketed their vision, smoothed any irregularities in the landscape.

it was like a still, frozen, lake, the world.

their minds drifted off to sleep, they could have driven over a cliff and not noticed, in their haze.

only the figure on the side of the road woke them up again.

“i'm bored. pull over,” she whispered. they were hanging on strings, suspended above darkness. they drifted over to the side of the road, snipping the threads with dull scissors.

the girl, she was pale, white as bleached eggs at the supermarket. her jacket was the shade of the surrounding flurries. tears slipped down her cheeks, dull crystals.

she saw them coming. a flash of something- hope, excitement, possibility- brimmed in her eyes.

her icy lips trembled when she spoke, as her creamy cable-knit hat slid down her forehead. “thank goodness you noticed me. can i have a ride? my car skidded out and rolled into a ditch.”

there was a beauty to being skeptical, it complicated things.

“where’s the car? i don’t see it?”

her answer was practiced, methodical.

“i’ve been here for hours. my car’s been covered with snow.”

this poor girl. she could be saved.

but not by them.

“i’m sorry. we don’t give rides to strangers.” she sniffed. “hopefully someone else will come along.”

they climbed back in the car, started up the rattling engine.

the girl began screaming, echoing the howl of the wind.

“you’ll regret this.”

but what is ignored can’t be regretted, so they drove off, watching as she turned from a figure to a speck to absolutely nothing.

the snow began pouring down, shoveled agressively from the sky. the world was completely white, and somehow, they couldn’t help but think back to the girl.

should they had helped her?

it wasn’t their calling. surely other cars would whiz down the road, rescue her. she’d be fine.

a rustle from the backseat.

they thought nothing of it. they were so close to their destination.

for a moment, everything was still.

two white gloved hands emerged from the backseat, clamped over their mouths.

coal black eyes, endless pits.

a hiss.

”i always come back...”