She stood at the corner of the patio, where the rising sun was just catching her sable hair. That’s what caught my eye, the sun glancing off her shiny hair. She wore a long purple coat that nearly reached the ground. I couldn’t see her face because she was facing away from me while I worked. I kept watching her, there was something about her that caught me.

I shook myself and went back to work, but the image of her wouldn’t leave. Most of the resort’s guests were still asleep at sunrise, she was the only one stirring that I could see. Normally they would come stumbling in demanding coffee or other hot beverage before inhaling a huge breakfast. I wasn’t even sure she was a guest, but there was something about her that wouldn’t leave me.

I’m a college student who worked the resort over part of the winter mainly for the money. I found taking a quarter off and working my ass off was better than trying to juggle work and school all year round. My one quarter working here usually was financially rewarding enough that combined with my other sources made college a reality for me. Sure, it will take me five years to finish, but I will be close to debt-free when I graduate.

What it also means is I have a very limited personal life. I rarely date, I am not involved with anyone seriously. The occasional one-night-stand is my only sexual relief, well except for wearing out batteries once in a while. The downside is the resort double bunks their temporary help over the holidays, so privacy is not an option. My roomie is okay, but I doubt she wants to hear buzzing from my bed every night. Besides, she’s straight and for some reason made sure I knew that on day one. It was like I had a sign “Lesbian” hanging from my neck. Oh well, she was cute but I was too freaking busy to see just how straight she really was.

I looked up and the Lady in Purple, as I now thought of her, was gone. She hadn’t come into the dining room, so either she went to her room through the other entrance off the patio or she wasn’t a guest and left. I stepped to the window and caught a glimpse of her walking away from the resort, towards the woods away from the ski lifts. Which was strange, there was nothing in that direction, just woods until you hit the edge of a steep ravine, more like a cliff. There were signs, but she’d already gone past a couple of them and there wasn’t even a hitch in her stride.

Without a thought, I grabbed my coat and boots and followed her tracks. She wasn’t moving that fast, but I still caught up with her just before she reached the ravine. She gave no sign she heard me huffing and puffing behind her. She stopped at the edge and just stood there.

I felt kind of silly, I mean I followed her out here for no real reason. It’s not like she looked crazy or anything. We’ve had people go over the cliff before, usually accidental, or at least the police and ranger reports said so. That’s why all the warning signs. I just stood there, catching my breath while she simply stood there. Then she dropped the purple coat and she stood there naked except for boots that matched her coat.

It was 22 degrees Fahrenheit and she stood there as if it was room temperature. I couldn’t move right away. Yes, part of it was surprise. The rest being awestruck by her beauty combined with the tremendous backdrop of the mountains, the trees, and the snow across the deep ravine. She was, in a word, flawless. Her skin was smooth, her butt was amazing, her legs slender. She had her arms crossed in front of her. She then pulled a couple of things from her hair and it tumbled halfway down her back. I was truly taken aback by her beauty. If I were an artist I doubt I could capture the sheer perfection of that image.

“It’s OK, I’m not cold. I never get cold, like you. It may seem strange, but this my favorite part of the year. I love the sharp-edged cleanliness of the ice and snow and how beautiful it makes everything look. When I wasn’t so busy I would follow winter around the world just to relish in its stark beauty. I know you enjoy it too. The other seasons have their attractions, but Winter is the one that resonates with me.

Her voice was liquid silver and she had to be talking about me since I was the only one there. You see, one of the reasons I loved working at the resort this quarter was that I love this season as well. The cold never seemed to really bother me. While I have never stood naked in below-freezing weather, I mainly wore a heavy coat because everyone else did. One of my college roommates gave me a hard time about just wearing a light tee in a storm. When I was a kid I never understood what everyone was talking about with the cold, to me it felt wonderful.

“How do you know me?”

She turned and I was gob-smacked! She was more amazing from the front than behind. She wasn’t very curvy, but the curves she had were just amazing. Her breasts were perfect globes and hung without a care in the world for gravity. Her mons was covered in a soft-looking down. She was the epitome of every right thing about a woman’s beauty. Then she smiled and she doubled it.

She stepped close and I thought about backing away, but when she came close, her spicy scent was incredible. She put her hands to my jacket and unbuttoned it. As she spoke, she touched points of my coat and clothes. Buttons seemed to pop open, zippers flowed down on their own, my shirt which I remember pulling over my head that morning seemed to part and fall behind me like an unbuttoned blouse. Even my bra, which had a back clasp opened from the front and fell behind me. In moments I was as naked as she was, and the temperature didn’t seem to affect me either.

She took a deep breath and stepped up to me, right against me, and our bodies fit together like they were made for it. Her skin wasn’t cold, but warm, soft, and fragrant. She tucked her face against my neck and held me tight and I found I could move. Instinctively my arms rose around her and my own face went to her neck. We stood there for a long time, the sun passed its winter zenith and still we stood there. When her head came up and she looked me in my eyes, I understood some, not by any means all, but more. She and I were alike where it counted, where it needed.

She saw my slow realization and she kissed me. It was like no kiss I had ever had. There was no harshness, no pushiness, no trying to force my mouth open and invade. Her lips touched mine and mine opened as if I not only knew it was coming but welcomed her kiss. Our thighs pushed together, one of hers between mine and one of mine between hers.

We were alike in height as well, and then coherent thought started fading as we both felt the heat from each other. We didn’t move much, just the pressure on our pussies was more than enough. I don’t know how long it took, but we orgasmed together. Like the kiss there was nothing forceful about it, it felt like the most natural thing in the world, to be standing naked in the snow, holding and kissing each other while tribbing on each other’s thighs until we came. As simple as it sounds, the most incredible rush went through me.

We sat right on the snow and things got even stranger. The snow didn’t melt against us, even though I know her skin was warm to the touch. It felt a little like that phony stuff you use to decorate indoors for Christmas, but not quite. It had the texture of light, dry sand. I took a small bit and held it in the palm of my hand and it still didn’t melt. I breathed on it and it still didn’t melt. The lady looked at me with a smile. I’m not sure it was my childish behavior with the snow or something else.

“My name, Giselle, is Gaia. Perhaps you have heard of me?”

“Gaia, as in Mother Nature,” as I answered slightly sarcastically.

She smiled a little as she looked me dead in the eye. “Not like the one mortals typically describe. My abilities are much more limited. But, yes, I am the embodiment of this world.”

I tried to look at her like she was crazy, but . . . we were sitting naked in the snow after having made love, it’s below freezing and we aren’t even noticing it. Her being ‘Mother Nature’ might not even make the top ten of weird right this minute.

“You might not believe this, but you were given an incredible gift, to be raised as a mortal. To be loved and cherished as a family member instead of one apart from humanity. It was decided one was needed who was also part of the human race, and here you are. Now, it’s time for you to know who and what you are. I need you, this world needs you.”

Gaia spoke some more while we sat as the sun slowly went toward the horizon. “I am Gaia and over the centuries I have tried to care for this world. As humans became so widespread and so creative, I thought I could keep abreast of the changes. But I have been fighting a losing battle for the past century. I know you understand this because your courses of study in school have been the Earth, Climatology with particular emphasis on Climate Change. My victories have started getting fewer and farther between. I finally appeal for help and you were formed. The powers-that-be told me about you and sent me to find you.”

“Powers-that-be? Gods?”

“Not in the way human religion thinks of those powers. But more a sense of balance in the Universe. When the balance is disrupted, the powers take action. They realized I needed help and they sent you.”

“Just the two of us?”

“No, you will have help. There will be . . . you would call them Muses . . . to help you. A friend of mine is gathering them. You are familiar with the myths of the Nine Grecian Muses?”

“Up until today, Mother, you were a myth to me as well.”

“Not Mother, Giselle, just Gaia. We often use ancient Greek stories to frame ourselves. It makes it easier for understanding. The Muses were around for a long time. Their role was to inspire people to create, to grow, to become so much more than they were at one time. But the time for Muses waned and as a result, only one is left. She’s putting together a new group of Muses with more modern skills than just the focus on the arts. Their focus will be on specific areas, like education, science, communication, etc. My role remains the same, the entire planet – there is so much more than just Climate Change. What I need is someone who can work with the Muses and bridge the gap between their specialties and responsiveness to the world around them. All of us will be needed in a real partnership to deal with this potentially world-ending problem.”

“Can’t you just wave your arms and fix it?”

“I wish, my dear. While we do have some abilities, we are not gods, we can’t control humans, and we don’t own them. We work with a great deal of subtlety, behind the scenes so to speak.”

“What about my family?”

“Oh, Giselle, don’t worry. You are still their daughter and they will always see you as they should. You will appear to them to grow older as they do until they do the very human thing and pass on. No one can ever take that away from you. They’ll never realize what you have become, but they will be proud of who they see and who they love.”

We sat there talking more and made love in the snow, which acted as a soft mattress and coverlet. Everything she said seemed to fall into a place within me that I hadn’t realized I was missing.

The sun finally set and the stars seem to explode across the night sky. Gaia stood and since we were in the mountains the dark sky made an incredible swath of the Milky Way flowed above her. Mother Nature’s own brush could not have painted a better picture. I stood next to her and looked over the snow-covered hills with a new appreciation of just what I was seeing. We held each other and each thought about the future, not just my future or even our future, but everyone's future!