Bearclaw Valley -- i've dreamt this moment, so overdue

it was a quiet morning.  the first tongues of daylight had broached the horizon and were working through the ice-encrusted valley.  it glistened against the frozen river and rocks, the tiny needles of the coniferous sentinels, and the tips of the dark girl's guard hairs.

she sat sphynxlike atop one of the boulders that helped shape the sun-dappled valley, close to the edge of the border. her eyes were heavy-lidded, still half asleep and her consciousness weaved in and out.

if her eyes focused on anything at all it was how when the wind kicked up, single flakes would waft through the air, catching the sunlight.

as far as days went, she hoped this would be a good one as she closed her eyes against a particularly chilly gust of wind.