Mindless Child

I walk outside to a chorus of yips and barking.
How can one creature make such noise?
How can one gust of wind send my heart running back inside to warmth and fire, but freeze my hands and feet in place?

The land is invisible beneath the ice.
Not snow, ice.
A mockery of the feeling behind my eyes.
The dog takes ahold of my hand in her teeth,
and leads me onward.
I laugh.

Where are we going?
I cry.
She does not respond.
She pulls me into the center of the ice-covered driveway.
She lets go, and we begin to play.
We are both mindless children
trying to forget our sadness.

I glance back at the little house.
It is full of memories that are not my own.
Sadness that I am not a part of.
Laughter that I don't understand.
I am an outsider.
The dog jumps me, and play resumes.
We are together.
We are happy, for the moment.
Isn't that all that matters?

She a mere three or four years.
I a mere sixteen.
We are merely mindless children
trying to forget our sadness.
It is Chritmas Eve.
I have an icy winter wonderland.
I have a friend.
Still, my thoughts wander South.
My thoughts wander home.
I wonder if they miss me.
My family, and my dear ones.

I wonder, does he miss me?
Has he thought of me?
No, of course not.
For I am merely a mindless child
trying to forget my sadness
on a cold winter's night
playing on the ice
and hoping that I fall
because it would be an adventure.