The Snow Crystal

The people at Global Enterprises were getting anxious. Twenty-five minutes had passed, and Sophie had still not arrived for her first job assignment. In another five minutes they would have to call the meeting off, and try to find someone else with the correct qualifications to fill in the gap.
Three or so minutes later, Sophie came bursting through the doors, red in the face from running up seven flights of stairs. Someone’s broken the elevators again, thought the caretaker, as he emptied out the dustbin.
“You’re late,” said Michael, slowing down his pace, “in another five minutes, your helicopter would have left without you.”
“Okay, sorry!” said Sophie, her violet blue eyes sparkling against her silky black hair, “I’ll be up at the launching pad in two!”1

“So, you know what you have to do?” said the pilot, five hours later, as they flew over arctic waters.
“Yes, I think. I have to find my way to camp, before nightfall, for my check-in. After that I will start my research,” replied Sophie, as the pilot began to descend through the frosted clouds.
As the helicopter touched down on the ice, Sophie picked up her backpack and walked out onto the snow. Even through all her layers of clothing, she could feel the wind biting through to her skin. Sophie’s hair helplessly flailed behind her, as she trudged through the knee-deep snow.
The helicopter took of, sending a flurry of snow in its wake. As it hit Sophie, it sent a shiver running up her spine. What time did the sun set? The sky was already growing darker, and it was at least another mile until camp.2

Half an hour later, Sophie was still surrounded by snow. I should have reached camp by now, she thought, now shivering slightly.
“Whoa, what’s that!” she exclaimed as a tornado of snow flew through the sky towards her.
Sophie began to back away, now shuddering with fear. What was that? She was now running, occasionally stumbling over loose bits of ice, finally falling down a small chasm.3

“Aghh!” Sophie cried out in pain, as she hit the cave floor. The blizzard above her was still raging, but was stationary above the cave, blocking the exit. As she struggled to her feet, she discovered a small light, not from the snow storm, not from the snowstorm, but deep, in the cove of the cave. Sophie limped towards it, fearing her ankle was broken, and the mysterious light she was walking towards. She eventually made it, gaping at what she saw next.
“The snow crystal,” Sophie gasped, still staring at the rock formation, “All this time spent researching its almost unknown location, and here I am, just stumbling across it in a blizzard.”
Beep. Beep. Beep, went a transmitter, attached to Sophie’s bag. Its signal was now getting faster, and faster, and faster. Then nothing. It was dead.
A deep rumble echoed across the walls, followed by a few loose stones falling off the ceiling.
As she span around to look, only the security team from the camp were there, presumably to save her.
“Oh, thank goodness you’re here!” exclaimed Sophie, a smile sweeping across her face, “I was getting worried I wouldn’t ever see daylight again!”
A tanned man stepped through the others, in a plain black business suit.
“Why, thank you for finding the snow crystal for me,” he spoke up, in a western accent, “If it hadn’t been for you, I would’ve spent years more searching for this place.” He stretched out his arms, admiring the legendary crystals of eternal life. It was Michael.
Michael, the kind hearted (or so it seemed) boss, her boss, that had sent her on this trip in the first place. The smile immediately vanished from Sophie’s face.
He began walking towards her, and said, “Sophie. You really have been useful over the past few days, but I’m afraid your use has come to an end.”
What does he mean, come to an end? Thought Sophie, limping towards the wall of crystal. What’s he going to do with me? Kill me? Surely not…
“Bye,” he smiled, almost laughing with joy.
As he reached into his pocket, she shouted, “No! You can’t do this!”
“I’m afraid I can.”
But just a second before, Sophie tripped over a loose stone, and fell right through the crystal.
The stone began to glow a deep violet, brightening off to a clear white, so Michael could see what was inside, or rather, who was inside.
Sophie stretched out her arms, and walked towards him, her ankle now healed. Michael was now cowering in fear, shouting pointless orders to his men.
“What, what are you?” he whispered, barely able to speak, “What sort of trick is this?”
All that Sophie replied was, with her renewed and now crystalline form, “You just wanted its powers even though, if you had studied like me, there were legends about it, forbidding anyone to even go near it with a heart of hate,” her voice was now rising, she was furious about what he had tried to do, “The only was to embrace it, would to be only moments away from death, and now I have a true understanding of what it truly is, and what it is capable of!” She roared, as the walls began to cave in on them.
“Run!” shouted Michael to his men.
“Only when you have a true appreciation of life, will it be worth living,” she whispered, a tear falling down her cheek…4

“News, news! An old legend retold!” shouted the market man, happily. The article read:
Only a few days ago, Global Enterprises sent an archaeologist out to the arctic, to find something that was supposed to be lost forever…
Later that day, a blizzard, on an enormous scale, covered the complete ice cap. The archaeologist, whom has still to be named, was found two days later, in a cave of crystals that her boss, Michael Forwoode and his security team found. What is strange about this do I hear you saying is that the female archaeologists’ body was found inside the crystal, perfectly preserved against a giant rock fall.  No-one knows how this could have happened, but the only comment from Michaels parents were, “Michael was always going on about some sort of magical ‘snow crystal’ that appeared in arctic legends…”5

6

Ten years later…
In the arctic ice caps, the water began to refreeze over miles where past ice would have been found. As it stretched further, a sudden lustre of light spread along it, touching the end and halting the growth.
Out of the centre rose a perfectly preserved block of crystal, with a woman’s body frozen in time inside. A second burst of light made the crystals melt away from her body, by still she stood. The vision returned to her eyes, as she stepped forwards for the first time in years. Her violet blue eyes sparkled with a long lost beauty, and her jet black hair swayed in the wind.
The sun rose slowly, seeming to stop then in was above her.
“At last,” she said as she flung up her arms, “A new day. A new beginning.”
And with the final word, a purple light encased the whole world, renewing it for the second time in history. This could mean only one thing.7

Sophie was back.8