The Frozen Creek

January was always a bitter month.

It was the time when the Christmas decorations were taken down, the holidays ended, and everyone went back to living... well, like normal. The air was stiff with cold and the grass sparkled with frost every morning. It was the only beautiful thing about this time of year.

Here in Canada, it was especially freezing; icicles hung from the eaves of the roof like long fingers stretching down to grab something.

Truman had lived in a lot of places - he'd practically grown up on the move - but this was the coldest place he had ever spent a winter in. Mum and Dad were particularly adept at finding the most interesting spots to stay whenever they travelled to a new country. Right now, they were living in a little cabin surrounded by massive pine trees, with a bubbling stream within walking distance and a breathtaking view of the stars at night.

And then, a week after they'd arrived, Truman woke up to find a blanket of gleaming white lying over everything outside. It hung heavily on the tree branches, dragging them almost to the ground; it glistened in the light from the rising sun on the horizon. The air had never felt so utterly, completely still; he felt like he might break it if he breathed too loudly.

Dad was still asleep and Mum was making breakfast, so he got dressed and wandered outside by himself. The roof of their cabin was blanketed in snow just like everything else, and there was a trail of footprints leading away from the front door. Small footprints, left by a child's spike-studded boots.

Momentarily alarmed, he followed the tracks, relaxing when he found his little sister standing on the wooden bridge that spanned the creek.

The water was frozen this morning - not surprisingly - but Alexis was still dropping twigs over the side of the bridge as if she expected to see them float away. Alexis was six, and had an insatiable curiosity that had gotten her into trouble on more than one occasion. He didn't think she'd ever grow out of it. He didn't think he wanted her to. It was fun to have adventures with her, and she didn't get scared easily like a lot of other kids.

She didn't seem to notice her brother's presence until he was standing right beside her on the bridge. Looking down, he saw their reflections side-by-side in the glistening ice. Alexis's small frame stood barely visible over the railing, her face peering down determinedly. Truman was nearly twice her height, with dark hair spiked up from yesterday's hair gel usage and frozen vapour issuing from his mouth.

She turned her gaze onto him.

'It's all hard,' she said, pointing down at the stream. She didn't seem concerned, just interested.

Truman dug a hand into the pocket of his hoodie and withdrew a battered old notebook, the kind of thing you can buy in a store for about eighty pence, and a black ballpoint pen. Making sure Alexis could see what he was doing, he wrote: <The water is frozen.>

'Frozen?' Alexis repeated. She didn't pronounce it quite right - it wasn't easy for a six-year-old to translate his written words into spoken sounds. 'What does THAT mean?'

As quickly as he could, Truman gave her an explanation of how water could be frozen and how it could become water again when heated. He wasn't surprised that she didn't know. They had lived in warm countries for the last few years, and Alexis was too young to remember ever seeing snow before.

She understood the physics better than he'd expected. 'Can I make it water-y again if I pour Mummy's hot coffee on it?'

Truman shrugged. <Yes, but Mummy probably wants to drink her coffee.>

Alexis giggled. 'Yeah, she'd be really angry if we stole it.' She picked up another twig off the bridge and tossed it down, watching it sit on top of the ice. 'I really want to watch it turn back to water, though...'

Eventually, after observing them through the cabin window for long enough, Mum came out with a cup of steaming coffee and gave it to Alexis. Truman huffed out a nearly-soundless laugh at the little girl's incoherent delight as she watched the ice melt, and Mum smiled as she watched them both.