Page 12 of Moist!

chapter one

I'm fucking freezing.

I shouldn't have come here. Not to the top of a damn mountain. Not to a winter resort miles away from civilization. Not to a vacation I wasn't even invited on.

Kicking the snow off my boot, I grumble under my breath.

No one's around to hear me, anyway. Of course there isn't because my family abandoned me…

again. They've been studiously ignoring me for the past three days despite staying in the same chalet.

I knew my mother didn't want to invite me along.

After thirty years, you'd think I'd learn my lesson.

My reasons for being here are vastly different from hers.

She invited me to save face in front of her friend.

I wanted to give my family one last chance to make things right. The free vacation didn't hurt, either.

Being invisible was fine with me. It's when they started paying attention I grew wary.

If I was going to actually give them one last shot at acting like a proper family, then I needed to try.

I believed them when they said we were skiing in groups.

I believed them when they said to go up this run alone and they'd be right behind.

I believed them when they said it was an easy course—whatever that means .

I shouldn't have believed them.

Now I'm stuck at the top of a mountain that's probably not an actual mountain, all by myself, and I can barely go down the bunny hill.

There isn't even an attendant up here. At least not that I can see.

No one was there to help me when the chair lift hit me in the back of the head as I slid off the seat, then crumpled to the ground. Which was probably for the best.

“ It’ll be fun, Hazel ,” I say, mimicking my mother’s nasally tone. “ Of course you’re invited. ” I huff into my scarf. “What utter bullshit.”

I set my poles in the hard-packed snow, savoring the crunch.

It'll probably be the last thing I hear other than my screams as I inevitably hit a tree.

I stomp down on my heels like I saw others do, but there's no click.

I assume that means I'm good. My nose scrunches under my thick scarf as my hot breath gathers in the fabric.

My entire body feels moist and I hate it.

Setting my skis into a V formation, I suck in a deep breath and push off gently.

My skis cut through the snow faster than I anticipated, and a startled yelp leaves me.

I try to slow down, but my feet have a mind of their own.

My skis straighten and suddenly I'm flying down a very steep hill with my heart in my throat and my bowels threatening to evacuate my body.

This was a very bad idea. Not my worst, but definitely up there.

A rumble echoes through the clear air, and a shadow passes over the sun.

I make the mistake of glancing up, and the brightness blinds me.

Then I'm falling. Not tumbling down the mountain because I crashed, but legit falling through the earth.

I thought I'd scream when I finally met my demise.

Instead, it's a slow descent into hell. Or the void.

Or nothingness. My pole catches on something and is ripped from my hand.

I drop the other one before it stabs me.

My skis fly off, and I tuck myself into a ball.

Time warps until I feel like I'm floating through the air.

Maybe I died when I first fell and I'm merely going through the dimensions to get to hell.

As the air whistles in my ears, I squeeze my eyes shut and struggle to breathe.

I doubt there'd be pain after I died, so I must still be alive.

My body hits something hard and a scream finally erupts from the depths of my soul.

Heat seeps into me and my muscles unlock. Darkness overtakes my vision, and I resign myself to death.