Wander Forever

We step out from the warmth of our cabin and the frigid air is like a hand slapping me across the face. Everything is covered in a heavy blanket of snow, which sparkles like thousands of tiny crystals in the glow of the nearby street light.
As we walk the path through the forest the snow becomes thicker and it squeaks under our heavy boots. The sound takes me back to childhood summers at the beach, when the sand got so hot it would burn the soles of my feet and I would have to run across it to reach the ocean. How strange that sand and snow should both make the same noise when I had never felt further from my childhood spent in the sunshine. I felt as though I’d travelled to another world rather than another country, I was Lucy stepping into Narnia, walking through a dark forest of pines shrouded in white.
It didn't take long to reach the clearing we had been heading towards, here all the pines are much younger and smaller so we have an unobstructed view of the sky above us. The sky is a rich, royal blue and is brimming with more stars than I’ve ever seen in my life. I'm reminded of a silk dress encrusted with precious jewels, though I'm sure no one has ever been dressed as magnificently as the sky has tonight. This is the first clear night we've had since we arrived a week ago in Finnish Lapland, this is the reason we’re out in the woods in the middle of the night in minus thirty temperatures. This is the reason we came to Finland. We lay out the blanket we brought with us on the ground, then we sit and we wait, our eyes glued to the heavens.
At first we chat quietly, but as we grow colder we huddle closer together to draw as much warmth as possible from one another and we become lost in our own thoughts. I don’t know how long we could wait, already my nose was running and my cheeks stung from the icy air. The cold is becoming unbearable and my teeth are chattering so bad I'm afraid I might bite my tongue, when I see it. A majestic ribbon of green light floating with dignity and grace across the heavens before disappearing. Soon more lights are flowing through the sky streams of green and even a bright flash of red. I'm awed. I've completely forgotten how cold I am, this is the most magical thing I have ever experienced. I cannot believe this is simply an act of nature, it seems as though magnificent celestial beings dance across the heavens. The night I saw the Aurora Borealis is a night I will remember all of my days.