The boy crouched in the corner of an alley, seeking some semblance of shelter from the harsh, frigid winds of the winter. Snow rose and fell in taunting, threatening gusts, finally deigning to land upon the rag clad form, clinging to shaggy, brown hair and chilling his flesh as it melted against him. He drew a tattered, threadbare shawl tightly around his shoulders as he shivered up against the cold, concrete walls of his own, private hell. Not even the tomcats were out in this weather.

But the boy was.

Nameless, faceless, and homeless, he was out alone to suffer through the storm.

All alone.

The only sound to be heard was the faint click, click, click of his teeth chattering. No birds called. No people walked to and fro, chattering aimlessly. No cats hissed and spat and chased the rats. There was just nothingness. A vast, empty expanse of white and gray. A cold, unyielding silence. Nothing.

He raised his eyes to the heavens above, wondering if he would finally freeze to death. It was a wonder he hadn???t already.

The silence was broken then by the steady, mournful cooing of a dove.

Coo-hoo, coo-hoo, coo-hoo.

To the boy it sounded like a steady tattoo of no hope, no hope, no hope.

He fancied it an answer to his previous address to whoever might have been listening. No hope. He wasn???t going to die. He would live.

He would live.

Live???

Was that what this was called? Living? He wondered why no one else seemed to be condemned to this terrible half-life, moving from place to place as a ghost, unseen and unloved. Maybe he really was dead. Dead and condemned.

Had he done something wrong?

He didn???t think he???d been a particularly bad person. Yes, he???d stolen and lied, but that had been out of necessity. He was starving. And freezing. He???d needed the bread and the shawl more than the fat lady in the thick, wool coat did, anyway.

The silence was broken again.

He heard the distinct, rhythmic sound of feet squishing the wet, fluffy snow. A soft, squelching, crunching noise that was drawing nearer.

Who but him would be out on such a cold, miserable day, so cold that even the children dared not go out in the snow to play?

To his utter shock, she turned down the alley, moving towards him.

And she was beautiful. More beautiful than anyone he???d ever seen.