She hugged the child to her chest as blood seeped through her clothes. Rain shuddered in the sky, turning the red-stained snow to slush. "Please," she whispered, her voice a sing-song croak. Lifting her face, she cried to the heaven, her wordless despair both a song and a plea. The rain kept falling, the blood flowed still, and no breath returned. Her body trembling with death and unshed sobs, she bowed her head.Words and a keening melody slipped unquenchable from her lips.

"Please, wind, follow me
Keep the cold at bay
Let them hear my plea
Drive them all away

Please, wind, carry me
Dance white petals high
Across my frozen sea
No red can touch sky

Please, wind, pity me
Do not...let her die
Young, too young to flee
The snow is...melting

Dance...dance the frozen flowers
They wait for us
The rain...will bring us home..."

She lay crumpled on the ground, her words no more than broken tears. The child was still clasped in her arms, but she couldn't feel the still form. She could not feel anything, except cold. So cold. "Please..." she pleaded, a trickle of red on her cheek. "The rain will...bring us...home..." The rain shivered on, deaf.