FOR A LONG TIME, nothing moves. There are no sounds. You are held suspended on some thin, indefinable line between consciousness and unconsciousness, warmth and chill. Your own breathing is so muffled and low as to be non-existent. You are a still, small, unmoving heart trapped in an ice-cube kingdom.

Finally, something does move. You know, because you can hear it. You'd thought perhaps the air itself was frozen, paralyzing all sounds. But you perceive a regular scrunch ... scrunch ... scrunch. So lulling, it almost puts you back to sleep.

You try to open your eyes, but a crystalline crust prevents your eyelids from fluttering. Your left hand clenches something soft ...

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