Frozen hands and warm hearts

The coldest weather can create the warmest of hearts-

Aanya stared out at the white world through her window. The way the snow caressed everything it touched, the cool wind that howled as it passed by, the delicate snowflakes falling daintily down-she tried to remember it all.

Aanya remembered a lot, for a seven year old.

She remembered the woman she called mother-though that seemed to be aeons ago.

She did not remember her father- all her mind supplied was a kind smile, eyes that were growing dim, and someone sickly lying on a poor makeshift bed of grass and rags.

Ayah always said she had her father's smile.

The there was her house- Aanya didn't remember much. It was small, and dusty. The windows creaked when the wind blew through them. The makeshift roof groaned every night, as if telling all her worries to the wide-awake Aanya, and the bats played hide-and-seek in between it's rafters.

Then there was the hot summer in India. The palm trees dancing in the wind. The smoke from the factories, and the screaming cars in the crowded roads. The bustling populace, the street vendors parading their fares.

And the mosquitoes. There were so many. Aanya hated those.

There was the flu-something Aanya learned to fear, although she had never seen it. Things that the government workers that skirted her home told her about-the dreaded bacteria, you couldn't see it, but it could kill you.

It had murdered her family.

If Aanya saw the bacteria now, all she would do was stare at it, in silence. She was beyond feeling anything now. And for a seven year old-that was something new.

She remembered someone coming to her house after mama died- someone called Pauline. She liked Pauline. Pauline gave her lots of chocolates and showed her some pictures and told her she was going to be adopted.

Aanya didn't know how to feel about that.

Aanya was surprised when she heard that would have another pappa and mamma. They lived far away from her home, and she had go live with them. In America, far from her home.

She was bundled up into a train. For the first time, she heard the screeching whistle, the crowds of passengers pushing against each other, the pushes often turning into shoves, which erupted into all-out fights.

Then there was the air plane. How could something so big stay up in the sky?

Aanya shivered throughout the flight-except for when the attendant served samosas. Those were nice.

Then there was America, or rather, the United States of America, Pauline told her.

It was big, and dark, and cold.

Aanya missed home. The dusky smoke of the factories, her friends from the slums, the honking of the cars and the cows roaming about. If she closed her eyes- she could still see her Ayah's smile.

Most of all, she missed the feeling of the hot sun covering her with warmth.

Now she was far away from her home. Her parents, William and Serena Oscar, were nice, but not pappa and mamma.

Why was everything so cold here in America?

XxXxXx

Aanya stared out of the window, entranced.

There was the sun here, of course, but it was tame. It barely provided any heat, not like the wild Sun of India, that could never be restrained. That was like a phoenix, dying every night, before rising the next day, burning bright- a never ending flame. The Sun here? It was like the uncles who spoke in megaphones back in India-what were they called? Politicians?- all talk. This Sun glowed bright, but was all show. There was no warmth to it.

But what was there was snow.

Aanya stared at it thorough the window, entranced. It was so white, so clean, so mystical. It had somehow come up overnight, and Aanya was surprised.

"Come on then, priya. It's time to head out-don't you want to see the snow?"

Serena was calling her. She called her priya. Aanya liked that-her mother used to call her that.

Before she passed away.

Aanya turned towards her parents, and shook her head. "But it's c-cold!" she replied, shivering to emphasise her point.

William laughed. "That's why we brought you these." He pulled out a pair of large, warm looking clothes, that looked brown, and like the coat of some animal, maybe a deeer?

With some help from Serena, Aanya tried them on. She liked them-they felt warm. And furry. Aanya liked running her hands over her clothes, feeling the soft fur move under them. She liked her new shoes too- they were new, and had all the colours of the rainbow, and had a bright tick along the side-maybe that meant they were good shoes?

Maybe the bad shoes had crosses on them?

Aayah involuntarily gasped as William opened the front door, and the wailing wind rushed into the house, seeking to make a permanent residence inside every possible nook and corner. Aayah shivered. "Go out, mother and father?"

Her parents gave her a sad look, but nodded.

Aanya knew why-they wanted her to call them mamma and pappa.

But- they were not her mamma and pappa-they were dead.

Aanya stepped out, and peered curiously at the snow in front of her. It was soft-she knew that when her shoes crunched though it. She leaned down and picked up some, and it crumbled in her hands. She let it run through her fingers, remembering something Ayah always used to remind her of-to be careful with time. "Just like this." she would say, taking a handful of sand,"time slips in between our fingers. Don't hold back, Aanya. No regrets."

"No regrets, Ayah." Aanya remembered repeating.

She looked at William and Serena, who sedately walked behind her, smiling at her wonder. "Do you think you like snow?" William asked.

Aanya shrugged. "It's plain. Just white, no colours. Not hard or soft, just in between, nothing special."

"Often, it's the most plain things that are the most special, don't you think?"

Aanya nodded. She agreed. Plain things, like sneaking out with Vishwas every morning, or hearing her mother head out to work, sitting on Ayah's lap as she braided her hair-those were plain, ordinary things, but they were what Aanya remembered.

"Keep moving forward, Aanya. There's a surprise for you." Serena added, with a smile.

Surprise? Aayna liked surprises.

She ran forward, looking around her. The white snow, plain though it may be, permeated everything. The trees, having shed their colourful clothes of green, red and orange for a more meagre brown, were covered with specks of white. The ponds-what was that on them? It looked like glass, and there were people there. They seemed to be dancing?

Aanya ran forward, eager to see what was going on.

She squealed as her feet suddenly slipped out from under her, and she found herself looking up and the Sun, that seemed to look down at her condescendingly, not at all warm and loving like her Sun.

Warm hands engulfed her, setting her upright. "Careful, Aanya. This here-this is ice. You need some skates for this patch here."

"Skates?"

"Yep. Here, we brought you a pair."

Aanya's eyes widened as her parent's opened yet another box, showing her a pair of shoes in teal, her favourite colour. She reached out towards the shoes- skates, she reminded herself- but hastily withdrew them.

"Why are these shoes sharp?"

Serena chuckled. "Priya, that's so that you don't slip on the ice."

"But what if I cut myself?"

"You won't. We'll be there."

Aanya nodded. Besides, the shoes were teal. They could not be so bad, right?

She hesitantly took the shoes out, and sat on a snowbank by the lake, before taking off her colourful shoes, and putting on the teal ones. Just like snow, these shoes were not the most colourful ones, but the ones she liked the most.

Aanya gulped as she finished fastening her shoes, and then looked out at the big pond. The ice- it was so vast. And there were so many people here-what if they laughed at her?

Aanya suddenly felt cold. The icy wind chaffed at her, and the cold Sun gave out frigid rays. The snowy bank looked perfectly fine. Maybe she could sit here and no one would notice.

There was a harsh screech-the sound of metal grazing ice.

She looked down at her teal skates, that scraped gently along the ice, as she rested her legs. What if she fell? What if she cut herself? What if-

She stopped thinking when a warm pair of hands took hers. William looked down kindly at her. "Not coming?"

"What if I fall?"

"What if you fall? You get up. No one's going to laugh at you. You are a very strong girl- no matter how many times you fall, you get up, and that's why Serena and I love you. You are going to fall here-it's your first time skating-but you get back up. That's what we do in life, Aanya. We get back up, and move on."

Somehow, Aanya knew he was talking about more than ice-skating.

She smiled at Serena as she skated up to them, and Serena, albeit slightly surprised, beamed back at her.

Aanya took her parent's hands. "I'm ready, mamma and pappa."

XxXxXx

And she was. Aanya took her first steps onto the frozen surface, and never looked back-neither towards the safety of the snow, nor towards her old life. She had a new life now.

The icy wind blew around her, and the cold Sun glared at her, offering no heat-but she had never felt warmer.

XxXxXx

Author's note: Foster parents are heroes!