It felt like some sort of dream. One moment, Sasha had been leaving the warmth of her house to find her runaway cat; she remembered the cold snow under her bare feet, the chilly wind tangling her hair and gown, and then everything went black.

The next time she opened her eyes, everything was blurry. She thought she could hear the distant voice of her husband, calling for her in the woods. At one point, she swore she saw her older brother, just a few meters away, but when she tried to call out, the words wouldn’t leave her lips.

Her consciousness only lasted a few seconds at a time at first, and then those seconds turned into minutes. Winter seemed to last forever now, the snow always surrounding her whenever she opened her eyes. But the world changed. Her family left, and countless others came to occupy her house, one after another. The horses and carriages were replaced by strange metal objects that made awful noises when they moved, and the people she saw through the windows became rare, acting in strange ways.

Sasha found some sort of enjoyment in approaching her old house and spying on the new owners through the windows. These people couldn’t see her, but it made her feel less alone.

That was, until everything changed. While she was perched at the living room window, the person relaxing on the plush couch locked eyes with her translucent form.