Little Lyra and You

Chapter 4: Snow and Ice

Delicate snowflakes descended from the clouds. Carried only by the wind, and gravity. As eh made their way down from the sky, Lyra and you sat next to your windowsill. Snow was a normality where you were from, but it appeared to be a subject of fascination to Lyra.

While she stared out the window in awe of the white crystals, you drew inspiration from it. The sheer beauty of the winter captivated you almost as much as it did Lyra. And that's exactly what you were drawing.

On your sketch pad was a drawing of the small mint mare standing on the peak of a large mountain. A snowboard in one hood and her lyre wrapped in the other. As you shaded in the last of the shadows, something slammed against your window making you both just back in surprise, and you only just managed to catch Lyra before she fell off the windowsill.

After you set her on your shoulder, you open up the window and stick your head out to see if you could find what had slammed into the pane, but hat was your mistake. Just after you poked your head out, a cold ball of snow slammed into your face and exploded all over you. Covering your upper body in the cold powder which immediately began to melt. The water from the snow began soaking into your sweater immediately.

You pick Lyra up off your shoulder and placer her on the sill before pulling your sweater off. You stick it out of the window and shake shake it violently to get the snow off of it before bringing it back inside and throwing it over a chair to dry.

"And that was my favorite sweater." You say crossing your arms against your chest. Growing up in Michigan had conditioned you for the cold, so the sweater was really more of a comfort thing than anything else. But you were perfectly fine without one.

And as you stared at the sweater, an idea hit you. You quickly went to the kitchen and began filling up a small water balloon. As you tie it off you notice Lyra eyeing you from the windowsill.

"What?" You ask tying the balloon off and walking over to the window. Three floors underneath you, two kids roughly nine years old were snickering after hitting you with the snowball.

As he poked his head out one of the. Begins packing another snowball together. But you weren't going to give him the chance to finish. Just as he finishes packing the snow together, you lob the water ballon down in their direction. You and Lyra peer over the edge and watch it as it falls and slams into one of the kid's head and explodes showering the other one with the spray.

You quickly slam the window shut as you notice another snowball flying at you. As it slams into the window, you begin to laugh quietly and a few seconds later, Lora's squeaks of laughter a joins by yours.

After a few minutes of hearty laughter, you hear a knock at your door, which kind of surprised you. Barely anyone came outside on days like this, and barely anyone you know would be able to come visit today. In other words, you don't have many friends. It you stood up to answer the door anyway.

You undo the door chain and twist the knob before pulling the door open, but are incredibly surprised by what was on the other side. Just outside your apartment stood a tall, dark skinned man in a black suit. A pair of dark sun glasses rested on his young face. He didn't appear to be much older than you.

"Michael Jones?" The man asks. You nod slowly, wondering how this mysterious man knows your name. "Roy Shepard," he says pulling a black wallet looking object out of his pocket and flipping it open. Inside was a picture of him and a small brass star labeling him as a New York detective. "I was sent here under suspicion that you are harboring a new species, is that true?" Roy asked.

"New kind of species, hmmm." You say scratching your chin in mock curiosity. "There might be some mold on the bread, but that's all I can think of." You said shrugging. Roy didn't seem very amused by this.

"Well, if not, then you wouldn't mind if I take a look inside then?" He said.

"Sure, after I see the warrant." You say stepping back from the door. Roy fished a folded up piece of paper out of his pocket and handed it to you. You unfold it carefully and read the fine print. You hand the warrant back to Roy and step aside, allowing him to enter.

He didn't do much more than poke around at you stuff for a few moments before walking back to the front door where you were waiting for him. "Well, seems you were right, that breads molding. But nothing new here." Roy said. "But I may have to come back later and have another look. Just to appease the EPA."

"The EPA?" You ask.

"Yeah, they said at there was some kind of new horse up here. Sounded like a load of bull but we had to investigate just to be sure." Roy said stepping outside. He took a few steps down the walkway before turning back around to face you. "If you notice anything, call me." He said handing you a small business card.

As he stepped onto the stairs, you walked back inside and closed your door. At the sound of this Lyra came out of your room slowly and peered around the corner at you. But you didn't notice as you rushed over to your computer and hagan shutting things off.

She jumped up a series of things that you had placed around the desk and hauled herself on top of it. We're going out of town for a little while Lyra." You say quickly. Though she was obviously concerned by your actions, she didn't question them.

As you loaded the last of your things into the back of your car, Lyra poked her head out of your chest pocket and looked around. She had never been outside before and it fascinated her. Though she didn't get to look around for long before you climbed into you car and closed the door.

As the engine roared to life, you flipped on the GPS and keyed in an address. Though it wasn't an address that held much happiness for you. "1032 Washington Drive, Michigan." You read aloud before throwing the car into gear and pulling out of the apartment complex parking lot.