She climbed up the steep snowy bank. Sunrise was moments away and she still had to get to the top. Moving faster, she was nearly at the top when she lost her footing and tumbled down the snow bank to the bottom.
Moments later, the sun peeked out over the bank. The young woman fought back tears, but soon they leaked out of her icy blue eyes. She ruffled her short naturally dark brown hair and wiped her eyes. She sat there, watching the sunlight twinkle off the bank.
"And again, not this year. I'll wait and have another go at it next winter." She said as she stood up and dusted the powdery snow off her pants. She turned around and squinted into the distance at the dark speck that was her cabin.
In the dewy morning light, she set off back to her cabin, trekking steadily. It was midmorning by the time she reached her front door. She unlocked her front door and opened it, soon greeted greeted by her rottweiler. "Hey, Karu. You hungry yet? Your bowl was nearly empty when I set out."
The rottweiler responded by perking her ears up. Then the stump of her tail began to waggle.
Chuckling, the young woman walked into the kitchen and got out the dog kibble. "I'll take that as a grand yes, then." Pouring the kibble into the pan-sized dog food bowl, the dog waited patiently until the young woman put the kibble away. Then the phone rang, and the young woman rushed to answer it. "Hello?"
"Hey, want to come out and hang with your favorite group of friends?" The voice coming from the other end of the line sounded forcefully happy, causing the young woman to snap rather rudely.
"No, I do not want to hang out with you. You just want me to complete your parts to the project. Well, I'm not helping you. Do it yourself!" She slammed the phone back to the cradle and sat down on a nearby couch, fuming.