I woke up to someone gently stroking my hair. Slowly, I groaned, and opened my eyes, a pale hand wrapping their fingers around my brown locks. My head was rested on someone's lap, and my arms were awkwardly wrapped around their leg. The clothing I felt was...denim. I was hugging Shiver’s leg. I didn’t move because I was slightly frightened to. I was about to say something until I heard him begin to speak. “God… My century is almost up… just a year… I won’t even see you grow up.” He didn’t hear me when I woke up… He sounded… soft.

“You do have a nice side…” I smiled and sat up. “Is it wrong that I felt comfortable? Is it also wrong-”

He covered my mouth, and I heard heavy footsteps. Bootsteps. Papaw… “I heard you, boy!” He sounded aggressive...

“Gotta run.” Shiver let go of me, and ran to the window, throwing it open. He looked back at me and quickly jumped out, vanishing in with the dusty Winter morning. The window shut behind him as soon as he left.

I locked it tight, and I quickly went to cleaning my room. The door flew open, Papaw walking inside. He grunted in confusion as he opened up the closet, then walked over to the bed looking under it. “Where’s the boy? You were talking with him! You were talking with Shiver!”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” I had my back to him, pretending to examine a book. He left without a word, so I quickly went over to the window, waiting to see if he would go outside. When I finally did, I saw him walk off, as if hunting for something… Shiver more than likely. He had on a large black coat and baggy pants... As soon as he got out of sight, the window clicked slightly, and the wind blew it open. It didn’t knock anything over except me. Shiver came in and shut the window locking it. He muttered something under his breath and a storm blew in, causing everything to turn white outside. “W-why’d you do that?! He’s still out there!”

“He’ll be fine.” Shiver said, shrugging as if he didn’t care. “He’s been through worse.”

I stared at him, my face showing disbelief. “What the hell! I thought the seasons were good!” The storm worsened outside to the point where the wind was audible from inside. “You don’t care about anybody.”

Something snapped inside of him, and before I could blink I was up against the wall unable to move. “You don’t know me at all. Listen, Copper, and listen good! You think seasons are beneficial? Sure, they can be. Autumn. Spring. Summer. Do you know which one they hate the most? Me! Sure I have Christmas and New Years, but I’m cold and grueling.

“Autumn brings pretty leaves, Halloween, and Thanksgiving. Spring brings flowers, crops, and Easter. Summer brings pools and breaks from School… Independence Day, even! You know what I bring to the table?! I bring death, famine, freezing temperatures, and let’s not forget mass destruction!”

The room began to get cold, and his eyes became harsh… “I-I...It’s…cold…” He wasn’t wrong about what Winter did, but the other seasons could do the same. Winter was the best season for me since I could pile on clothes and blankets to stay warm inside or out. I hugged myself for warmth, shaking from the cold.

“Maybe that will teach you a lesson, Copper.” The room warmed up, and I fell forward, Shiver catching me. “Remember, I am not to be reckoned with. You need to learn that.” He sounded a bit softer… I was still recovering from the coldness that was once in my room… As I looked past him, I saw that the storm had let up a bit, but I could still feel that he was still upset… I don’t know how I did… it was just a gut feeling. I felt his body warm up, and I relaxed, holding onto him… Shiver was still holding me in place, but I didn’t want to let go anyway… He’s so warm. “I don’t understand your kind. One moment you hate me completely, the next you’re acting like you were when you were a child.” He laughed, and I felt my brain give up on the other thoughts for a moment.

“What?” I looked up at him quizzically.

“I’ve known you since you were born. You were a little angel.”

“No, you weren’t! You were so different then! That’s crap! You’re lying to me!” I pushed him away, in pure disbelief. I didn’t know what to think… Shiver? An existing thing from when I was younger? I call bull on that! I quickly changed the subject before he could say anything else. “What are the other seasons?”

He took the bait. “Well, actually… I wanted to show you. But first, you need to clean your room first. Maybe leave a note behind for your mom. Just in case it takes us a few hours or something.”

In about 30 minutes, I was done with my room and the note. With Shiver waiting outside, I quickly changed. I put on my heavy jacket, pants, and snow-boots. I trudged outside and saw Shiver standing there still. There was still a storm, but I was crazy. I was crazy enough to follow something only I could see; I was crazy enough to think this boy was nice. I know he can be somehow, but… the only side I could really see of him was how rude he was. “C’mon. We need to get there quick. I don’t want to be there for very long, either.” I nodded and followed him as he walked ahead.

I felt wind hit me in the back as if telling me to move faster. “Shiver…”

“What?” He looked over at me, seeming impatient.

“I...heard what you said this morning… About you only having a year left… What do you mean?”

“Well, next year on your birthday, I’ll be going back to sleep. The seasons will explain it to you.” He looked as though he didn’t want to answer, and I backed off.

“Okay…” After saying that, I finally decided to shut up.

We walked for an hour or so, and we came up to a gate that stretched out for miles. Shiver went inside first, and I followed him in. A few more minutes later, we came to four lone trees that created a square. Instead of the trees making the corners, they made the sides. “Here’s our… ‘center.’ We meet here.” He pointed off past the four trees, “A few miles that way is my tomb.”

I opened my mouth to ask a question, but I was interrupted, and I heard a boy. “Well lookie here!” It laughed, “Old Man Shiver. Almost time for you to go back.” I turned, seeing the boy in front of the tree to the left.

Shiver grabbed me and walked to the tree all the way in front so that now the boy looked like he was on the right. “Good to see you too, Ray.” The area around Ray melted, and there was half of the square-going diagonal-that did too.

A girl with sunflower hair appeared in front of the tree that was in front of us. “Shiver, I wish you weren’t so cold… Maybe then I would be okay with you.” Shiver muttered something under his breath, something like, “I can’t help it, Blossom.” She stood in Ray’s melted area so she was warm.

Finally, a girl with orange pigtails on both sides of her head appeared to our left and in front of that tree. “Hey! How’s it goin’ guys? Is it time for the meeting?”

I stood there confused as to what she met. “Not that one, Hollow… Anyway, what brings you here, Shiver? Ready to be locked back up early?”

Why do they dislike him so much? “Well, Copper here needs an explanation of what we do.” Shiver answered, ignoring the other question Ray asked.

“Ah, I see… Well, first… Mother N has decided to lengthen your stay. Before Blossom comes, you’ll be able to stay.” I think he meant something like when Spring comes… Shiver cheered, and the other two groaned quietly, and he ignored them yet again. “If! And I say if… You find someone you’re willing to care for and love until you leave. Now… Copper… Shiver is like your guardian, but for all the kids born in Winter. He can choose to pick a new kid every year or keep the one he previously has chosen. So far, he’s always chosen you. Why? We don’t quite know. Shivers sentence, as you’ve heard, has been lengthened to the end of your Winter. After that, he will be needed to come here, accept his fate, and lay to rest for a hundred more years. Understand?”

I nodded, “Yes… I do.” Kind of…

“Good. Could you explain that to me?” Hollow asked. “Nah, I’m kidding. But seriously who would-why would- Mother N want to keep him longer? Isn’t that...I don’t know...strange?”

“Sort of, but I like it.” Shiver said. “I don’t think I can get someone to want me to care for them, but I’ll give it a shot. Even if I have to deceive a few people.”

“Hey! Not nice Shiver!” I called him out on it, and I knew that he also knew that that was a terrible idea.

“What?” He shrugged. “Everyone does it all the time.”

I saw something in his eyes as I turned and began to walk off in the direction to go home. An Ice wall stopped me. The other guys were long gone by this point, so I knew I was left alone with him. The winds blew again, and I turned, seeing a bare white outline of Shiver approaching. “Sh-Shiver?” Everything began to get freezing cold, and not even my jacket could keep me warm. I hugged myself, my teeth chattering.

In one fluent move, he grabbed me, squeezing my arms. He growled at me, a fiery yet cold look in his eyes. “You don’t walk away from me, Penny. Ever.”