Groundhog Day

I can feel the pull of the sun and the moon at the right angles, dragging me back into reality. My next opportunity has arrived.

When I come to, I see that the weather is perfect. The overcast cloud layer is thin enough to give me form, but holds back enough light that my host won’t be able to see me easily. I steel myself, if I mess this up then I have to wait another year in limbo to try again.

I’m mainly glad that there’s sunlight at all. When the clouds are too thick to allow for distinct shadows, I end up losing before I already begin. But with direct glare of the star comes the downside of being visible to my quarry. In this case I often lose my temper, thrashing with what little power I have in order to extend winter by a few weeks to spite this world.

This rodent seems particularly ignorant, happy to unknowingly tow me along the snow while it forages. Slowly but subtly I make my move. It takes minutes, but I finally extend the shade all the way up the creature’s spine. I feel the surface of the brain, and the anticipation wells up inside of me. Thousands of years attempting this, and I’ve never made it this far.

I yank back, tearing the entire nervous system out of the groundhog. In the brief moment it takes for the life to fade from the nerves normally, I absorb all the energy that I can. It’s a process that takes mere seconds, but it feels like hours. “What new complication could trip me up this time?” It’s a thought that haunts me ever more strongly as I reach my goal.

I finish, feeling the creature’s strength become my own. I stand upright, no longer dependent on light and surface to give me form. I dismiss the shape of my victim, taking on something more comfortable and indistinct. Just to make sure, I reach inside the bleeding carcass and absorb the body heat as well.

Once I finish I look around, take a few steps. The feeling of being independent, of not having to live in fear of suddenly being denied existence for an entire year, is exhilarating. The sight of what was once a groundhog’s shadow now dancing around the groundhog’s corpse scares away the other creatures, but I do not care. This is all the power I need.

I reach up and grasp the sky itself, channeling my ability. The oceans quickly evaporate a few inches away, encasing the planet in a dense cloud cover. This only takes an hour to finish, during which I wait patiently and confidently. Once that finishes, I drain the heat away from those clouds in the blink of an eye, creating an opaque layer of ice suspended miles above the ground. The world grows dark, with what little diffused light that can get through creating a permanent dusk. The air is colder already.

The eternal winter is here, and my sole reason for being has been fulfilled.

(Originally written 2/2/2016)