A blanket of snow fell over all the lands. It did not melt. The temperature continued dropping, each day a bit colder than the last, with no end in sight.
We formed a group, determined to survive as long as possible. Scavenging parties went out each day. Sometimes they returned with food and firewood. Sometimes they returned with nothing. Sometimes they did not return at all.
One day we came face to face with one of the harbingers of our icy doom; a titanic beast covered in scales, plodding through the snow on four legs, spewing an endless stream of frozen death from it's great maw. It's gaze gave notice to our little group, ever so briefly, before moving on. The beast cared nothing for such tiny mortals, and we knew that none of our feeble efforts could even hope to make such a creature flinch.
None of our scavenging parties returned that day.
When there were only four of us left, I worked up the courage to tell her how I felt. She said she felt the same. Finally, there was a little bit of pure joy in this wretched nightmare of a world. We both knew what was coming, but we would face it together, until the bitter end.
Now it was just the two of us, huddled around the last fire, watching what remained of our most precious possessions slowly turn to ash. Her hand fell from mine; I let it go, knowing that she had been gone for some time. The light from those final embers faded and the cold began to creep in. I realized that I had always known this moment was coming. I had been a fool to think that I could fight it. More foolish still to believe that I would not be alone when it came.
Still, I think that I accomplished all that I needed to in this life. There are so many memories, right there...but it's cold now, and I-