Chapter 10

The creature moved its arms around and shifted its neck as if to find a more comfortable position as it stared down at Annemarie. Darkness bled from the empty eye sockets of the skull. Harsh winds brought arctic air into her shelter as the creature loomed over her. It seemed as if the stary sky could be seen in its eyes, but she dared not to look at them. She feared they would swallow her up in entirety.   

     But as the seconds stretched in endless silence Annemarie began to slowly look at the gaping holes. She moved her head towards the vast emptiness of the beings' eyes. Her anger was pitted against the visions of millennia combined. Annemarie felt the pressure of an avalanche rush against her as she saw visions from times long past.   

     Annemarie saw great beasts being slain in excess, the land being wrung from the roots of trees and rivers being diverted to the heart of a city. She saw the land around her dry up and great trunks of metal reaching further abroad and below the ground. She saw the soot of a hundred thousand chimneys suffocate forests and beats alike, while builders constructed grand repetitive bastions of concrete and steel. She saw great dark clouds forming in the sky and a long winter approaching, as many celebrated inside their glass towers.   

     “You speak of insignificant details,” the creature spoke again. “Who you are, what you do, nothing is in your hands. Those before you make who you are. Those before you pave the road you walk. How can admit cause and reaction without seeing the greater connection?” Annemarie’s accusations of Jack lost themselves in the black sockets and long wound words of the being. It was as if it all had lost its meaning and the eye sockets hungrily called for more.   

     But Annemarie did not lose herself to the whims of the immortal. She had seen those who laid the brick streets where she lived. She had seen those who came after the first, who paved roads of asphalt and concrete. But she had also seen those who brought her up. Annemarie had seen her father ripping open the old brick roads to lay glowing pipes below. Annemarie had seen her teacher who taught her stories of animals and beasts which would return one day. Annemarie saw that there had been a change.  

     She remembered that she was here because of Jack. She had come outside because he had bothered her the entire night. But Annemarie now also admitted that she had been curious.  

     She had gone outside by herself, and she had not returned like she knew she should. But she was sure that it was still his fault. He had pushed her down the hillside. Snow and ice crawled onto her skin. Annemarie knew it was Jack’s fault. He had shoved her to save himself, but Annemarie now knew something else too.  

     Jack hadn’t forced her outside. He hadn’t forced her to stay. Annemarie could have returned home the moment she saw him, but she didn’t.  

     It didn’t feel right to Annemarie, but it was logical. It was like her dream of becoming an engineer like her parents. This deduction wasn’t what she wanted to believe, but it was generous and forgiving. Her parents were like that too. It was why she wanted to become like her parents.  

     She was angry at herself and angry at why she couldn’t be angry at Jack. She had been carried away like a pebble in a current so wild and fierce. She had failed to catch herself and temper her emotions. The creature had been right in one detail. Annemarie admitted that she was insignificant. There was so much more to the world than she could ever imagine. She was a mere dot in a blizzard of frost, but Annemarie knew something else too.  

     She could have been better. She could have come home on time. She could have remained calm after her mother had left. Annemarie knew she could have changed the outcome of this night.   

     And although Annemarie knew that she couldn’t change it now she felt that she had to make something right. She had thrown herself out into this arctic city and wasted so much time. She had cut off so much time she could have had with her parents. She wanted to apologize.  

     She couldn’t now, but so she spoke to the uncaring creature. “In earnest,” she wrung each word from her lips, “I do not believe I could accuse anybody gone for so long," she paused painfully, “what I have done is - my – fault.”  

     The creature was impressed and laughed breezily. It spoke at last, “indeed, how a stupid way to go, and the world does not care and neither do I. Now the story has ended!”   

     Annemarie lingered silently for a while before interrupting the creature at last, “but why is it that you who has been whiteness to it all failed to change even one thing?”  

     Now she felt nothing. Annemarie could hear the creature grinding its teeth and saw it shacking its cloak. The empty eye sockets stared at her baffled and the creature raised its pearly fingers. The snow and wind rose to a crescendo as the creature was denied its victory. “Do not attempt to deflect," the creature called out loudly. And Annemarie could hear a sliver of anger and panic in its voice. “Do you not see how you cannot change a thing? We are all victims of fate and time! Can’t you see you are alone in this forsaken realm? Surrender to the truth," it argued blindly, but Annemarie wasn’t listening anymore. She laid there, passed out from the draining cold.  

     As it saw this the creature recomposed itself. “And I was always right!” it declared.  

     But suddenly a beam of light pierced the solid darkness that the creature emitted from its eyes. The Light melted the darkness and shone hard upon the creature. “You will see,” the being declared as it hurried away.  “In the end, I will be right,” the creature insisted as it fled the warmth.