My shorts are on and my feet are bare.
I'm shaking from head to toe with no jacket
as I walk through the icy frigged water.
My teeth are chattering and my lips... the color of a plum.
My face is pale and I can see in my eyes I'm on the verge of giving up.
Then - suddenly- a brightly colored thing floats right in front of me.
I see what it is and I almost start to cry tears of joy... a scarf.
I grab the scarf and hold it against my face for a long, long time,
as if it held my life between it's treads of pink and brown.
It's thick and warm and warms my face up after a while.
With this new found hope and spring in my step I keep walking.
It doesn't take long for this hope to completely vanish,
leaving me only wanting nothing but more
more warmth, more gifts, and more delightful hope.
Unfortunately the only "more" I get is more icy water.
Then I look to the side of the river and my eyes light up
for right in front of my eyes, right next to the river,
are mile and miles of clothing, hot drinks, and BOOTS!!
I drag my fragile body to the side of the river and pick up everything I can.
I put on the boots first and instantly feel a dramatic difference.
I feel the warmth rising up my body
as I put on hats, gloves, jackets, and coats.
Everything, all the misery, hopelessness
and hatred of myself being foolish enough to not be prepared
all of it has vanished in my new warmth.
Then all the sudden my face starts to get hot.
I feel myself sweating in my new cloths.
I look up at the sky and almost start to cry.
For once again I was too late.
For the cold, frosty, unbearable, winter
has now turned into humid, sticky, hot
Summer.
