More random nonsense

I climb the rise in the chest-high snow and look back. She is scrambling through the tracks I made, the snow around her taller than her head, a small dark shape against the blindingly white drifts. She squints up at me and redoubles her efforts, throwing herself through the snow until she reaches me. She is panting, louder than she should be; I feel a slight increase in warmth as she leans against my side. Her hood has fallen off. She stares up at me with wide eyes and launches herself into the snow in front of us, nearly disappearing into it. I realize she’s attempting to clear a path for me.

I follow her and lift her out of the snow before she can get any further, swing her onto my back. She rests her chin on my shoulder and regards me seriously. Her breathing is still too heavy, her thin chest rapidly rises and falls against my shoulder blades.

“Are you cold?”

“No, Jheri,”

I pull her hood back up and plunge forward into the snow.