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The house was a cute cottage style place that had white clapboard sidings and a black roof. The lawn was slightly overgrown but nothing that made me think that it was vacant. I knocked on the door, but no one opened it.

I could see through the window beside the door that there was someone in there. I knocked again to get their attention and they jumped as if startled and then turned to look at me. Their eyes looked large in the shadows. I could see them fluttering their hands about.

I tried the door and it opened under my hand. I stepped in and smelled a strong odor of garlic and roses. The person I saw through the window was there, staring at me. She was an older woman with grey hair piled up into a bun or maybe it was just a short hair style, I couldn’t tell. She had glasses that were really large that made her eyes bigger. I introduced myself, but she said nothing.

She then turned and went through a doorway. I quickly walked through myself into another room that was dark. It was hard to see the furniture and junk about so I made my way slowly. Suddenly there was a burst of light as the back door opened and she went out. She left the door open.

She made tracks in the snow, big black holes that spoke of her direction, and I could see her bounding away like some kind of startled deer. I followed because I was concerned—she was bare footed and I could see the marks of her toes in the snow. Walking on snow barefoot is very slippery and I saw her fall several times.

Soon she was at the shore of a lake and she began to venture across the ice. Here the snow gave her a bit more grip so she could move faster, bouncing away like a white hart. Then the ice cracked and she fell in.

I grabbed the bag slung over my shoulder and used it as a lifeline for her to grab. She didn’t reach out for it. I pleaded with her to save herself and she just smiled and pointed back upon the path we had just come.

There were only my tracks in the snow and through the house. I walked quietly back to my car with the whispers of a truth that I had only been able to see but not catch.