A Small and Tall Collection

Snow Place Like Home

Winters are an unforgiving time, northern winters especially. Trees and vegetation are few and far between. Snow is thick and deep. When those delicate flakes begin to melt on one of those few warm days where the wind doesn't pass right through your body, they create a sheet of slick ice which hides beneath the unassuming snow.

Any time spent outside could spell absolute disaster, but there were few options at this point - especially for her.

Ashlynn, pack on her back and desperation in her heart, had decided to brave the great outdoors out of pure necessity. Too many things were wrong that venturing into the frostbitten conditions outside of the safety of her home seemed like a better alternative.

As a Borrower, no one ever took moving lightly. It was a dangerous thing to attempt, especially because standing at a proud five inches flat made the world that much bigger. Everything - roots, bugs, animals, plants - could prove an impossible obstacle. Still, she had made the decision. There was no going back. How could she?

The thought of being captured and confirming whether or not she'd been seen was not on the agenda for today or any day in her future. There were other things too, but that was the last thing on her mind at the moment. Right now, there were higher priorities on her ever-growing laundry list to accomplish.

First and foremost? Finding shelter - a proper one.

As she pried her eyes open, the edges feeling as though they were covered in a light frost from the morning, she knew that colder weather was on the horizon and there was no chance she'd survive another night like the one before. Sleep tugged at her lids, begging her to return to the bliss of unconsciousness. It was a luxury she couldn't afford. What little warmth existed between the blankets she'd managed to haul along with her weren't going to be enough.

Even now, she could feel how her body shivered and ached as the cold seeped in through the most miniscule of gaps between her and the blankets around her. She dared not stretch, even though she desperately wanted to, in fear that the blankets had shifted in a way for her to break that precious seal between her and the cold followed by plunging her feet into the snow.

Waiting wouldn't do any good.

It felt good to procrastinate the immense tasks set forth today, but it wouldn't help her. Every moment she lingered in the coveted heat she'd created would only spell trouble later, especially if she didn't find a suitable home by the time night set in.

Every scrap of clothing she owned already on her body, Ashlynn inhaled the warm air one last time before forcing her head out from under the blankets. The decision was necessary, but instantly regretted. The frigid air hit her like a slap in the face. The hard earned heat vaporized in an almost perceptible puff of air. The only good thing was that there were no bugs nestled next to her makeshift camp deep in the roots of a tree she'd managed to find.

Ashlynn hated bugs.

Too often she'd woken up with a daddy longlegs crawling over her to seek out the warmth of her body or one of those nasty little roaches skittering across the bottom of her blankets. The worst jump scare she'd received so far was a mouse that started creeping into her hiding place, too cold to be driven away by its fear.

Yes, a proper shelter was necessary, and Ashlynn intended to find one today as soon as possible.

She hoisted herself up out of her bed and rolled up her life-saving blankets and fastened them to the bottom of her pack before heaving it onto her shoulders. The gap in between the roots she'd found the night before allowed safe passage out. The sun, distant and cold, was shining bright through the naked branches of the tree high above her.