This is the story of a man who has survived four long years of winter only to fight one more battle before spring. I’ve only read one of your stories before, but it’s really cool to see you take on a sci-fi genre! The world felt really developed and the concept of elongated seasons is intriguing. There isn’t much in the way of dialogue in your story, which honestly makes the whole piece feel like it’s a few pages from a journal. I also enjoyed your descriptions of the beasts, especially when you didn’t give them a name. It’s almost refreshing for characters to be so disgusted with other creatures that they aren’t worth being named. I feel like that also puts a sense of dread and mystery around them, as your description focuses primarily on their predator-like morphology. You don’t make them feel like they have anything remotely alive or human in them. The whole premise of having most of the colony go to sleep is actually really heartbreaking and I felt so bad for the main character. This leads me to a few suggestions: I would’ve liked a little interaction between him and his wife, just because there are some places where your piece feels very lore-heavy. You don’t have to use dialogue to split these long paragraphs up, but maybe a quick description of what his wife looks like or what she does might work would be good! I also would have liked some reasoning as to why the people stay there. Do they not have the technology to leave the planet? Are there resources there that they need? I think adding some motivations for your society as a whole would flesh out your world a little more. Overall, you did a great job and I really enjoyed this story!