The sun bounces off the distilled ice clinging to the windshield. I turn up the heat despite the fact that the knob is useless. Perhaps I can salvage a lost gust of tropical weather stored within my car. Unfortunately, my luck is dormant like the trees outside.  My breath skatters into the air and lazily crawls accross the dash as I put the car in park. The battle call of the wind gently shakes my car, reminding me of what lies ahead. Taunting me - it’s voice loud and thundering - ripping through the silent parking lot and creeping into my car. I fumble through my clumsy jacket and pull out my battle gear. A hat, some gloves - my skin is ready for the onslaught.

                 I open the car door and face the beast with my destination in sight. I push open the door a little bit, and the wind rips it open the rest of the way. Various bag-victims of the wind blow through the parking lot out of control, hopelessly waiting to catch a twig and rest. But the fight will never end. The wind continuously blows, showing no mercy. I realize this as I fight a never ending battle with an enemy that knows no limits. Pin pricks break through my skin as I dash towards the wind, towards my destination which seems too far away. It will not be long untill my defenses are ravished, and I too, become a victim of the wind. Looking up, I see puffs of smoke rising from the building ahead. Beyond the smoke, a cloudless, pale blue sky rests in what seems to be a quiet, blissful sleep. However, during sleep, the sky has opened up it’s gates and the cold, unforgiving air rushes to the lands of the living. At last, my temporary savior is only a few feet away.

                The clankle of bells greets me as I enter. People walk about lazilly and at peace, cackling amoungst themselves, all quietly. The golden brown wood of the bookshelves and counters dominate the building combined with the soft green of the floor. A living paradise within the desolation of a winter freeze. The front clerk smiles at me, her eyes brown as the counter. Masses of people hidden from the outside, bob and weave throughout the shelves of the store. Briefly popping their eyes  up like gophers as another passes, before submerging back into the environment.

               I traverse the shelves of books and find a café nestled in the rear of the building. Smells of coffee beans and freshly baked pastries break through the bubble of imagination once dominated by the bookshelves. I fumble with my worn battle gear as I pull out my wallet. The clerk greets me as his eyes look around tiredly, searching for an exit. An exit from what?

                I pay for my hot chocolate and enjoy the small pleasure of picking up the warm container as I make my way towards a table. I find a small table pressed next to the window near the rear of the café. A perfect place to sit. The sunlight filters through the glass pane and casts it’s rays upon half the seat and the table. The dust in the air can be seen floating effortlessly in the warmth. I take off my coat, set my beverage on the table and lean back in the sunray as my body fills with a the calm aura of my surroundings stoked by the warm sunlight on my skin.

                Looking around, people around me are all lost in their own world. Some talk to each other and break the silence, but even they are part of the surroundings. Their conversations painted with an elegant type of casualty. A refined vision of humanity. I observe this work of art at play before my very eyes. An old man stares under the cover of his paper, at the birdhouse that stands outside the window. Finches twitch and nibble on bits of corn rustling to and from with their prize in their mouth. They eat their food with hasty disregard for the waning food supply visible in the trough.  A fat squirrel scurries in the snow dunes below, looking for scraps from the ungrateful birds. A small lesson in life on play outside which few take the time to see or acknowledge seeing.

                To my left, a couple looks through the classified ads together. Undoubtably, their lives are off to a new direction. Their eyes light up now and then followed by a close huddle over the small print of an ad placed amoung hundreds of identical boxes. The highlighter comes out once again. New dreams fill their minds as the world around them focuses out of vision and into each other. The frappochino machine kicks in and breaks the silence of this temporary world. A small message from reality.

                 I sip my hot chocolate. The pure commercial taste of the chocolate goes down as smoothly as ever. But this is only temporary. It may be long before my mouth tastes such a delicacy again, but it will always crave such a taste. Here in this world, desire and pleasure tangle with practicality. Two tables ahead of me, a woman has undoubtably given into this temptation. Her eyes fixed on a book, while her posture indicates the surroundings have already sunk in naturally. She looks at home. Protruding from the bent soft-cover, small tabs reach for air. A slightly worn bookmark with a yellow tassel and sunflowers sits in the sun. It too looks at home.

                  The machine turns off and once again, all that is heard is the slight beeps of the cash register mixed with the pulse of quiet conversation and elevator music piped through a speaker a couple tables away. Kenny-G takes the day away as his sax glides into the subconscious. Weaving paths as the melody progresses, each note tempting a new thought. Pushing on a new exploration into the temporary bliss which engulfs the building and the outlets within it. A collective unification of serenity.

               Unnoticeably, I pull out my book and grab a pen from my pocket. It is time to sink into this oasis and bury my limbs in the warm sand. For today will carry on around me, but for now, time is still. No engagements ahead, no pressing obligations. Just life wrapped warmly inside a small building in the corner of the town within the country in this world, somewhere in space and time. But for now, it is time to write a paper for my English class due in a few hours.