Post 27 : Rewrite of IFP Introduction

She fell backwards into the icy depths. It wasn’t a long fall, hardly one at all. She had been in the shallows, it had been a warm day, yet the water embraced her with a chill and dragged her deeper and deeper beneath the soft waves above her. She regrets not learning how to swim as she struggles for breath. Finally, the sea expels her, throwing her suddenly onto snow covered sand. It shouldn’t be like this, but she couldn’t focus on the shift of the weather, too busy vomiting out water and bile.

With heaving breaths she drew herself further from the waves, collapsing onto the wintry beach. She wasn’t sure how long she stayed there, or if she kept consciousness while she recovered. But once she blinked and there was a bright white sky, the next moment there were three figures standing overtop her and talking in hushed voices. Or, it seemed like they should be talking. Their mouths were moving yet no language followed, just noises. Very melodic noises, perhaps a language, but more akin to music.

The people, if they were in fact people, were tall, very tall. One was thin with skin as dark as the night above them, and their voice called upon images of stars and the sound of fire crackling. The second could blend seamlessly into the snow, their melody that of high toned bells. The third seemed an even middle ground, they didn’t look like they had tanned though their skin took on that tone, their voice sounded like a rustle of pine needles or the crunch of leaves in the fall.

The things they shared were pointed ears and teeth, crystalline wings that looked like they could be made of spun sugar, and immense beauty. All were undeniably and perhaps even objectively stunning.

They were strange, stranger than anything she had ever seen and yet she couldn’t find it within herself to be afraid.