He wandered in among the trees scarcely knowing where he was going, when to his surprise he saw his mother sitting down on the snow with her back resting against a large tree, her feet and knees covered with blankets.

He pulled off one blanket, then another, and yet another, but his mother never moved.

She sat as motionless as the tree itself.

Her face was covered with frozen blood.

He took hold of her shoulders and shook her when she appeared to breathe.