Second Runner-Up for Halloween Art: “Warmth of a Mother” by Samantha Atencio Ynoa

Samantha Atencio Ynoa is a first-semester student at Hagerstown Community College majoring in Psychology. 

This is the meaning behind the piece:

Yuuki Onna, known in the Japanese folklore as a beautiful snow woman, roams the mountains with a baby in her arms. When she encounters a lost traveler, she passes on the baby to them and freezes them on the spot.

The Kappa, who live in the lakes and rivers, have children as their favorite food. However, when the winter comes the lake freezes, and one Kappa, wandering lost in the snowy mountains, unknowingly eats the snow woman’s baby. Yuuki Onna, patiently and lovingly, takes over the Kappa as a replacement for her baby.

The Kappa, left to its cursed luck, will not survive the winter.