The cold silence

It is -16°C outside right now. It is night, cold and silent. The sky is clear, the stars are twinkling, and the intoxicating smell of wood smoke is in the air.

The air is biting my bare hands. The snow crunches under my feet.

It is so still and quiet I can hear a ringing deep in my ears that comes from leaving a house full of noises.

Monty and I stand still. Him in the yard, me on the deck. We both keep turning our heads, directing our ears this way and that, like we want to find something to hear, but there is nothing. No wind. No traffic. Too cold for the wildlife to be scampering through the woods, just out of sight, like they do so often when we step out on warmer nights.

A tree snaps from the cold up higher in the forest. Monty and I look at each other, and head back inside.