The Elements as Prompts Part I

I sat down to do some writing practice. It was the first snow of the season.

Paldi walked deliberately in the preformed footsteps in the snow. Whoever had walked here before him was two sizes bigger, making ample room in those hollows. When the clouds parted, the bright sun off the snow made it nearly impossible to look up or see much through his squinting eyes. Relief came when the thick cloud cover came back, staying a while this time. An occasional wind blew through the higher branches. The fresh snow crunching under his steps was the only constant sound. 

He could see the outline of a small building now. A store maybe. If anyone was there, he couldn’t tell. A few more minutes and he would reach it. Then the quiet let in the doubt. A few minutes or much longer in the snow. If he got to it, if someone was there, if he could get help. Paldi didn’t want to think about what he would do if he couldn’t.