Not Too Dark, Not Too Cold

Shelter From the Storm

The wind nipped at Alora's face shrewdly as she trudged her way through the blizzard, having left the village that she called home only a few days ago. She thought she could survive a few nights in the woods, but when a sudden snowstorm struck the forest, she found herself helpless and desperate to find shelter. As she walked through the knee-high snow and felt the chilling flakes land on her face, she shivered as some flakes landed on the back of her neck, since her wind-blown braids were over the front of her shoulders and left part of her neck bare, thanks to her jacket not having a hood. started envisioning a cozy cottage that she hoped to find, complete with a warm fireplace that she could sleep by and possibly a small kitchen set for her to make a quick dinner on. Those thoughts helped Alora to keep going, encouraging her to look around and see if she could find any cottages, but the cold and unforgiving frosty winds forced her to hide in her coat and pull down her hat to protect herself.

This was Alora's first time away from home as far as she could remember, and having just celebrated her 24th birthday, she thought it would be the perfect time to explore the world outside her little village. She lived in that village with her father, who was well-known and highly regarded as a remarkable handyman, and she loved following in his footsteps as his apprentice since she was a child. From fixing neighbor's chairs to tuning the piano at the nearby music hall, Alora was well-loved by everyone in the village and neighboring cities, and she loved helping others. However, the urge to wander grew within her while she was in her teens, much to her father's initial dismay. Even though he didn't like the thought of his daughter being far from the village, Alora's father could see the twinkle in her eyes whenever she read books about far-off lands, so he understood that she wanted to explore. With that, he taught her as many tricks of the trade as he could, so she could probably do herself some good in whatever city or location she found herself in next. As they exchanged their final farewells and promised to keep in touch, Alora's father surprised her with a satchel full of handyman tools (from nails and glue to a miniature broom and duster set), which she shouldered across her body before flinging her knapsack over her shoulder and hugging her father again to thank him for the gift. With that, the two of them said goodbye before her father wished her luck and watched her leave.

Anyway, Alora was making her way through the woods when she saw something dark in a distant clearing, the image and shape almost emerging through the snow and ice that wooshed around her. As she trudged her way closer to the mysterious item, she gasped when she saw that it was a tall and imposing castle, with stone walls that stretched past the trees and a door that looked to be made of sturdy oak. Sadly, the castle was full of cracks in some parts of the walls and had ivy crawling out of them, so it looked like this fortress hadn't seen better days in several years. Even though this castle wasn't like the cottage she dreamed of finding, she knew she couldn't pass up the chance to find shelter there, so she shyly approached the door before gulping as she carefully knocked on the door.

"H... hello?"

She softly called through a crack in the door that looked to be a broken keyhole, and she waited for a response before trying to knock again when nothing happened. With a sigh, she tried knocking a third time while still being gentle, but nothing she did seemed to coax a response from inside the castle. Even though she was disheartened, she thought she'd try simply pushing the door open, and she gasped when the door opened the moment she touched the handle. Though she knew that she shouldn't barge into someone else's home, she knew better than to turn around and find some other shelter, so she took a deep breath and entered the castle before closing the door behind her.

While she was admiring the 13th-century gothic decorations around the entrance hall of the castle, complete with candle-light lanterns dripping wax as they seemed to have been lighting the hallways for all those centuries, the aroma of dust and decay almost violated her sense of smell. As she was taking her coat off, she suddenly let out a massive sneeze before apologizing in case she woke anyone up, but nobody responded. With that, she looked for a place to hang up her coat before taking off her boots and coat, and she soon found a mat for her boots and a closet near the door before shedding her extra layers. After stuffing her hat into one sleeve of her coat while putting her knapsack's stick in the other sleeve, she looked around the entrance hall and wondered if she should take herself on a tour of the castle, but that's when she worried about possibly going into a forbidden hallway and immediately shivered.

Wanting to stay on the right path, she was starting to plan which hallway to go through when she saw the cobwebs in the entrance hall, and she pulled out a feather duster from her satchel before starting to clean everything she could reach. Once she was done dusting, she took out her miniature broom and started sweeping the carpet, even maneuvering the furniture out of the way so she could give the rug as sturdy of a shake as she could before putting it back down and trying to make it look the way it did when she arrived. This castle seemed to be desperate for her skilled yet gentle touch, and she was glad that her satchel had everything she needed to use in situations like this, so she hummed a playful tune as she worked around the hall. When she saw that some of the chandeliers and ceiling lights needed some dusting, she took the stick out of her knapsack before attaching it to the handle of her duster, giving her the perfect amount of height to get the chandeliers and lights as clean as possible. She even used a rag with some lightly sprayed water to clean the casing around the lights, and the lights seemed to shine even brighter when she was done.