In the 21st century, many brilliant scientists discovered that the ozone layer, the thick warm blanket that wraps around the Earth, was getting thicker. Many people who live on the Earth lack the ability to properly move and use gasoline operated vehicles. These vehicles exhale millions of particles that create the ozone layer, warming up the Earth, but the heat will not escape. For the imbecile citizens, the rising heat means fun in the sun, enjoying the fun activities at amusement parks, and making love and romance near the shores. But in this world now filled with more imbeciles, there are some who hate the heat and wish for it to go away-for their close one, would be gone forever…
Between the beautiful skies of heaven and the dangerously scorching hell, a special world hung slightly below the steps to the gates of heaven. The world consists of many gods alike. All give the people a choice of a miracle or an early death. The gods refer to the Earthlings as many pawns on a chess board-there are so many and you wouldn’t think much of them when they are removed. All of the dead pawn pieces’ souls are then taken to a building and the Death Committee checks them off so they can walk to heaven or fall to hell.
The souls who met with the Death Committee were often left with shivers down their already cold spines. The Death Committee consisted of seven men, their ages as old when the first life on Earth was formed. They all sat in a long table curved outwards like a U. The poor little soul would float in the middle of the curve and wait for the Committee’s answers. All of the men were dressed in black; it was very ironic because the heaven and this world were white. They were one of the few who are allowed to enter Earth and live among Earthlings. The fact that they were extremely wise and old didn’t scare the souls; the fact that the members of the Death Committee never showed expression terrified them the most. The Death Committee can easily assign one soul to hell without a change of color on their face.
When the air slowly chilled around the world one day, a visitor entered the doors of the building and crashed into the Death Committee. The unexpected visitor was a young man in the early teens with hair white as snow. His hair reached to his thighs and was tied neatly in a ponytail; it looked like he was wearing a long thin white ribbon instead of hair. He wore a very comfortable jacket with six silver buttons sewed in the front. A dark blue scarf wrapped around his neck and the rest fell in front of the jacket. His face and hands, the only bare skin visible, were very pale as if he was already dead. His dark blue eyes swam through the committee, even the committee themselves felt few degrees colder when their eyes met his. “What do you need, Season Child Kol?” asked one of the Death Committee.
Kol, along with seven of his other brothers and sisters were called the Season Children because they were born on the exact date when the certain season arrives. When the Season Child is born, they land in Earth and create the weather and the environment focused on their season. After the month passes or it is their other brother’s turn, they will be dormant until their month comes again. The four sisters controlled the Southern part of the equator and the brothers took over the northern equator. Kol was the youngest of the Season Brothers and didn’t have the greatest manners. “Hey Death Committee, I want one of you to get your butts off those seats and come down to World Three with me! I need a playmate.” If a soul spoke in this manner, they would’ve immediately sent to hell even if they were good in Earth, but this was a Season Child and the Committee was quite used to it. “Kol, you already know the answer.” croaked a very elderly looking man who sat in the middle of the curved table, his voice was barely audible.
“I know, but I wanted to get permission first.”
The elder’s eyes could not be seen from the thick wrinkles of skin covering most of his vision, but a slight movement in the layers of skin moved to the right, “Sir Zach Killah, I order you to escort Kol into Earth.”

On the farthest left of the table, a man stood up in response to the elder’s orders. Out of the seven, he was the only one who didn’t look like an elder. Though he claimed his age was the same with the other Committee members, he looked like he was in his late teens. He had his beautiful silver hair tied up in a ponytail also, except his ponytail was bushy and short. His eyes were gold and the pupil was just a thin line, like a reptile in the bright light-proof that he had taken lives of many humans. His skin was pale, but he looked more alive than Kol.
Zach had three jobs: visit Earth once in a while and kill humans for enjoyment, decide where the souls go, and to take care of any monsters, creatures, and gods like the Season Children.
Kol frowned as he watched the grim reaper gather the papers and hand them back to the elder, “At least one of the elders doesn’t have their butts glued to the seats. Fine, hurry up Zach and let’s go down to World Three and play!” Kol took Zach by the hand and ran out the two heavy doors of the building and into the elevator leading down to Earth.
Using the elevator was a better idea than the stairs because it cut off many days to just few hours, but staying in the small space with a taciturn person for hours was tedious. Surprisingly the grim reaper spoke first, “Did you know your other brothers don’t need me to go to World Three?”
Kol scoffed, “Well, that’s because they can talk to themselves when they’re riding this stupid thing. I’ll go crazy if I stayed in this small space for even a minute!”
“You could just say, ‘I’m lonely and I need someone to hold my hand.’”
“Shut up, Zach, or I’ll freeze you to death!”
“I’ll cut you with my scythe first before you lay a finger on me,” Zach replied coldly.
Zach Killah was called The Grim Reaper because he would always carry a gigantic scythe with him. The blade was as tall as him and on the top of the stick was a carving of a dragon, its teeth bared out. Rumors say that the reason why the scythe is never stained by the human’s blood was because the dragon would come to life and licked the glorious blade clean.
“So, what are you planning to do?” Zach asked, but it sounded more like he was talking to himself.
“First, I’ll show you my greatest masterpieces in Russia, Canada, Alaska, and some parts of Europe; then we’ll stay in one of those countries and have a snowball fight, make forts out of snow, or ski.”
“What happened to the regions near the Tropic of Cancer? We used to go there to sled and ski…”
Zach saw the happy expression of Kol’s face break into a sad frown, “…snow doesn’t stick there anymore…just a little, but not enough to play.” Zach shuffled his shoulders and resumed his meditation. Kol also leaned against the cold surface of the wall and dozed off to sleep.
They reached the surface of Mount Everest, and when the doors slid open, Kol dashed out. “God, I get so cramped in there!” He breathed in the crisp cold air, “Ah, it’s been a long time since I breathed in this nice smell! Hey Zach, how long was I sleeping!?”
Zach casually walked out of the elevator and also breathed in the air, “Nine months.” Zach’s outfit formed as he walked out into the fashion fitting the season. He was still wearing the same black sweater and black slacks, but a large black fur jacket and a black leather belt covered his thin shoulders and waist. The casual black shoes he wore inside the Committee building and the elevator changed into tall black boots with six shiny metal buckles.
“Nine months? A few years ago, I slept shorter than that.” Kol made a face, “Did Taki play too long?”
Zach nodded, “Taki and TaÅ•is are playing in World Three far longer than anyone-they barely sleep nowadays. Antoine is also playing longer…and he takes some of your time too.”
“That’s why I don’t wake up until the middle of November. Stupid Antoine, taking my playing time…”
“Kol, please concentrate on making snow. The children below are waiting.”
Kol stuck his tongue out at Zach, but did as he was told. The season child outstretched his arms to the sky and began his chant. His voice vibrated through the wind, it was so clear and majestic. The wind carried his voice through the range of mountains and up into the heavens. When he gently lowered his arms, white clouds formed above them and tiny snowflakes began to fall. Kol faced Zach and a smile appeared his face once more, “Do you want to go to Russia next?”
“Wherever you please.”
Kol formed a cloud from his fingers that allowed them to travel in the wind. Kol politely let Zach ride on it first, then he jumped in and flew towards Russia.
Kol used the same chants to create snow covering the lands above the Northern Hemisphere. He came one continent, this was one of the countries he despise the most: North America.
“You’re not going to be nice to this country again?”
“Why should I!?” barked Kol, “If Taki creates hurricanes and El Niños here, why can’t I?”
“I didn’t say you can’t. I don’t think the people here will learn a lesson; they do not have the intellectual minds as they used to.”
“Then we’ll keep doing it until they do!” Kol snapped at the ever-so-calm Zach and raised his hands up in the air. This time instead of slowly lowering his arms, he thrust his arms down and brought them away from each other, aligning them with his shoulders. Zach tightened his scarf just in time before the temperature around them suddenly decreased. Sharp, yet fragile icicles showered the roofs and the street lamps. Thick layers of frost covered the glasses of all of the houses and parked cars. Just like painting a landscape, the frost swiftly sailed through the city into a deadly winter wonderland. Kol clapped his hands in satisfaction. “We’ll do the same for Japan and China, the other countries who are ruining my fun.”
The Death Committee told Zach before to keep the Season Children from completely destroying the world; their main job was to just change the temperature and weather. However, over the centuries, the lowly pawns began to cheat, twisting the rules so they could become the strongest living creatures on Earth. The pawns didn’t like the other pieces getting stronger, so they fought wars, creating destruction, hate, and misery. The modern weapons the pawns invented caused harm to many innocent citizens, animals, and even the atmosphere. The Summer Siblings were short tempered and hated the Earthlings’ act first. They applied as much hatred towards them as possible by increasing the average summer temperature. This made matters worse especially when the humans ignored the punishment and pushed the fact away, naming it global warming. Why didn’t Zach stop any of the siblings from causing any more harm to the Earth? Because he was too mad…
A few months passed and Kol enjoyed playing in the white world he created. The teen was talented in making perfectly round snowballs and throwing them continuously, but he was terrible at skiing. Zach, on the other hand, was better at skiing than throwing snowballs. Kol fell off the skis for the ninth time and threw the sticks in the opposite directions, “This sucks! I hate skiing!” He crossed his arms and pouted, a soft shade of pink appeared on his cheeks.
Zach collected the sticks and placed them near Kol, “You should learn how to ski.”
“No. Hey, do you want to make a fort?”
“…Do as you please.”
Kol pointed to a large pile of snow located a good ten feet away, “Let’s make it over there. I’ll race you old man!” Kol deftly took off the skis and started off. Zach sighed and unbuckled his skis. He placed the skis right next to Kol’s and when he looked up, he saw Kol suddenly crumbled into the snow, bits and pieces of ice broke off from his body.
Zach realized what just happened and ran over to him before Kol began to scream in pain. Kol’s voice was broken up by uncontrollable sobs his voice was no longer clear and crisp like the wind. His left arm was completely broken off from his body and formed into ice which melted instantly. Other parts of his body were doing the same, and flakes of ice was falling off of his pale body. Zach brought Kol into his arms and rubbed his broken body with snow to ease the pain. “W-why…?” Kol choked out, “Why am I melting…? It’s still F-February…”
They felt a change in the air and FloÅ•e, the Season Brother of Spring and Taki, the Season Brother of Summer arrived. FloÅ•e knelt down near Kol, but dared not to touch him. “I’m sorry that you’re in pain, but we…woke up too early...” Kol clicked his tongue and his eyes met Zach’s, the tears he formed were melting his cheek. Kol’s body was melting quickly and the snow wasn’t helping anymore. His melted lips barely formed a smile, “E-even though it was short…t-thanks for playing with me and listening to my selfishness.”
“You’re welcome.” Kol coughed out a laugh and closed his eyes. His body cracked into millions of pieces and blew away into the wind. Zach sat where he was; his clothes were drenched from Kol’s remains. FloÅ•e dried Zach’s clothing with his power and couldn’t stand to look at the grim reaper’s expression as he continued to stare at the hands that were holding the poor child. “At this rate, Kol and his twin sister might not be able to visit World Three much longer…”
The sky was mostly clear with only a few clouds; the world was having an early spring. Slowly, but surely there will be a day when winter will be no more and the whole year, there will be summer. And the poor Winter child will remain asleep for the rest of its life.