The wind blew leaves around her ankles in swirls of red and orange. Wrapped inside her thin raincoat, she shivered due to the frigid air. Her countenance was one of narrowed concentration in avoiding the large puddles along the sidewalks and the assembled piles of dirt and leaves swept off of someone’s lawn. Her pigtails, thick and drawn out to a little point on the end, swung and bounced with each step she took. With her head bowed, she hugged her backpack tighter around her chest. It had been discovered, about a few blocks back, that holding her backpack around her chest made her warmer. Still, the recurrent gales sent tremors through her body and goosebumps on her skin. Silently, she counted her steps, rushing through the shivers of leaves on the ground now and then. The winter air cast back on the dawning fact that winter was here. Light was leaving at six o’clock. It would be soon that her mother would forbid her to walk alone after gymnastics. She couldn’t help but let out...