Welcome to Winterclear

It smells like roses before I go to sleep

It smells like roses before I go to sleep

After I watched poor Hypathia crumble at my feet, I stood there and stared at her stony chunks. What is the proper protocol when someone turns to stone and then breaks all over your kitchen floor? Back in the real world, I would've called the cops, I guess.

And see, that's the thing. I've started thinking of this place as something separate from the "real world." That scares me. I am losing my grip on reality. I was offered a job as the principal of Winterclear High. I gave notice of my resignation at my old job. I packed up my belongings and drove across the country to my new home in this gated community.

Those things happened. I'm not crazy.

But now I'm in this place where not only do the laws of man and society not really apply, but rather the laws of PHYSICS don't apply! What the actual crap, folks?

And I've been told I was free to go and I even went back to the graveyard, and it definitely seemed like I could leave. But now I'm wondering if I leave, will I turn to stone and crumble into a million pieces? Standing there staring at Hypathia's unfortunate remains made me feel less "free to go" than I formerly believed.

So, I did what anyone in my position would do. I swept up her remains and put them in the pantry to deal with them later. Then, I made myself some noodles.

Over my noodles, I went back through some suggestions I received on Reddit about possible ways to handle my situation. One person had told me to keep a few particular items on my person at all times. Iron, which, they explained, is effective against fairies. Sounded like a definite must for me, all things considered. A wooden stake. Well... We all know what that's for, and according to poor Hypathia, vampires weren't out of the question around here... Silver, which apparently is also effective against some supernatural creatures. And salt. Several people mentioned that salt can be effective for protection.

So, after my light supper, I went out to the tool shed in my backyard. I had yet to explore it, and hoped there might be some left behind items in it. I was happy to discover a small workbench inside and an old rickety metal shelf with an assortment of tools and supplies.

First, I spotted a worn box on the tool bench with some small railroad nails. I was certain those were made of iron, so I happily tucked a handful of them into my pocket. Those should come in handy! Next, while poking through the supplies, I found a scad of popsicle sticks. Perfect! There was a whittling knife on the bench which I used to fashion one end of a stick into a point. Wooden stake, voila!

I planned on collecting the silver from inside my house. I knew that, tucked inside one of my suitcases, was the old silver cross necklace I had inherited from my grandmother. What better way to keep silver on me? And finally, salt. I plucked a whole canister from my pantry and went to put it in my purse. Although, I don't really carry my purse around with me in the workplace, so I needed something smaller. Something I could carry in my pocket. I remembered that I'd seen some left behind pill bottles in my medicine cabinet. I thought I could place some salt inside a small pill bottle and carry it in my pocket.

Inside my bathroom, I accessed the medicine cabinet. There were several pill bottles and the first one I grabbed still had a few pills left inside. I read the label. Lithium. Huh. I don't know what that's used for, just that I thought it was on the Periodic Table. The prescribed name was "Baz Greer." Could this have been the former resident of my house? Was he also the principal at one time? Where was Baz Greer now? I decided to google him later, while emptying the remaining Lithium tablets into the commode. I took it back out to the kitchen and filled it with salt.

I also collected an old garter that I had once caught at a wedding while I was digging out Grandmas' cross. I planned to wear a skirt the following day, and secure my wooden stake to my leg with the garter so that I could get to it quickly if needed.