Motoko03

Prologue Snow shimmered everywhere like a smattering of diamonds tossed across the silvery landscape. The glimmer coated everything: pine needles, bark, and ground. Rainbows swirled up from all of it like ribbons on Mayday. The dull late-afternoon sun added an opalescent sheen to each already polished surface, making everything gleam like the glassy light of Heaven.     But it was frozen Hell.     The vibrant colors of summer, spring, and fall had sunk into the cold white depths of winter. Each tree, flower and plant wore a straightjacket of ice; each lake and river was trapped in a glassy cage. Hardened snow plunged like daggers from t