Skinny on the edge of life

The avalanche buried her deep in crystalline beauty. Death crept closer on every frozen marvel, crushing weight evaporating too slowly for life. Her eyes followed tiny worlds melting in front of her face and she thought she'd scream if her mouth weren't full. She commanded herself to swallow but the thought of mountains to ingest before moving carved deep.

Books said to urinate when trapped in avalanches, to tell which way was up, so she tried. Warmth traced its fingers over her belly, across her throat, over her chin. She felt it begin to cool, to stick with a finality that reminded her of the time she almost drowned as a child. The sense of moving in the wrong direction, being powerless to fight the pull of gravity, the inevitability of water. A pool of empty space widened around her nose, her mouth. Hope flooded her lungs for a moment. Extinguished in the shifting snow pushing her down. So close. Dry. Gorgeous. Endless. A foot. Ten meters. She thought she felt heat, lunged for it. Moved deeper. Screamed. Choked. Tried to breathe. Swallowed. Thought, "This is not so different from life above ground."