"It was too late"
Why did she say it like that? She wasn't wrong though.
My father died only a few months after being sent to jail. He died from a heart attack. At least that's what the officials say. My mother is mental ill because of him. She lives in a home for the mentally ill, meaning they take care of her because she isn't able to. I was young, and this was before I knew how to even brush my teeth by myself. I have no clue what happened between them, but either way I was sent to live with my Grandma and Grandpa.
"Would you look at the time! Time for bed!" She commented.
It was 7:48.
"Off you go, Sweetie. Remember to put your dishes in the sink." She shooed me along. I did as I was told, (even though I didn't want to) and made my way to my room.
My room was small and cozy. My light blue walls made it seem colder in my room when it wasn't too much colder than the rest of the cottage. After getting changed, I jumped into my bed. The sound of the wind shook the cottage a bit, which made the doors creak. A deep breath escaped my lips. It's fine, it's just the wind and snow. Yeah, the snow that's 4 feet high now. Closing my eyes, I tried to sleep. It'll be better in the morning.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Dawn peered behind the horizon like a kid trying to cheat on a math exam. That was oddly specific, but you get what I mean. Slipping on a pair of socks, I got out of bed. When I left my room, Grandma was already sitting there on the couch. "Good morning-" I tried to say but I was cut off by something. "G-Grandma...?"
She sat there with her eyes closed. "Grandma!" I shouted. Her eyes opened wide now.
"Oh heavens, what time is it?" She asked.
"I don't know. Five? Maybe six?" I replied, unsure.
My heart had stopped beating; it took a second to start up again. You better not die on me, Granny. That's been my worst fear ever since my Grandpa passed. One day I'd wake up and she'd just be... gone.
"Oh my goodness gracious I need to start on breakfast!" She said while getting up.
I gently sat her back down. "I can make it, it's alright." I told her, restraining her from getting up and hobbling to the kitchen.
"Are you sure?" She asked me.
"Yes, I'm old enough to know how. Don't worry, I won't burn down your precious kitchen" I said again, laughing towards the end of my statement.
She smiled at me as I walked into the kitchen. Yesterday she was cooking us lunch for today, so I got a sneak peak. Kimchi stew. Grandpa's favorite recipe. He had it while he lived in Korea, and since then he's loved it. That's why grandma learned to make it.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
I grabbed the eggs out of the ice box. We didn't have a refrigerator, so we used an ice box. Since it was cold outside as well as inside, it was easier to keep everything from going bad. The snow was pretty high, but today I had to grab some snow from outside to restock the ice in the ice box to keep the food cold.
We used to have chickens for eggs; after the wolf attack we stopped getting eggs. The nearest market or store in general was 3 miles away, but since we didn't own a car, I would always walk there and back. Looks like I'm making another trip there, I thought. We only had an egg. That's it. Just one.
"Ummm.." I muttered, trying to think of what to do. The snow was too heavy to walk through today, and I'd have to walk 3 miles. Eventually, I had to go out there to go to the market. I scurried around the kitchen, logging everything I had to get from the market.
Eggs
Milk
Flour
Meat
Cabbage
Tea
The cabbage was for the Kimchi stew. You can't have Kimchi stew without the Kimchi! With the list in my hand, I hurried to my room and got dressed. Then I quickly ran out.
"Grandma we're out of eggs and short on some other things so I'm running to the market. It won't take long, bye!" I said in one breath while running out of the cottage. I slammed the door shut, cutting her off from her sentence. I knew she was going to disapprove of me going out in weather like this, but I didn't want her to worry. When I was growing up, it was time for me to do things on my own without her concern. Everything's going to be fine.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Since our roof covered the front door, there was only an inch of snow at my feet. The further I walked though, the more snow there was. It went from 1 inch to 2 inches in a matter of 7 steps. Then 3, followed by 4 and 5 inches of snow. By the time I was half a mile out in the cold, icy woods, I was standing a foot of snow.
Gray misty air came out of my mouth as I took a deep breath. The frozen air stabbed at my lungs, but I ignored it and kept walking. My feet felt more frozen than the air. It's alright, you're almost there. Only 1.5 more miles to go. The sun was finally out and high in the sky, beating down on me. Its heatless glow was no match for the ice cold winter that was surrounding the atmosphere.
Just then I heard a twig snap.
I whipped my head around to see what it was. Nothing was there.
"Hello?" I asked, waiting for a reply. I didn't expect one, since it was probably a squirrel.
"Hello...?" A deep voice mimicked.
HOLY HELL WHAT ARE THEY FEEDING THE SQUIRRELS OUT HERE!?
I jumped, turning to see where this mysteriously creepy voice came from. In front of me stood a very muscular man. He had wavy, dark brown hair. His eyes sparkled like the sun rays against the fresh snow. I couldn't describe him in a single word. He was a perfect mix of cute and hot, which was stunning because it's usually one or the other. His black, short sleeved shirt was very revealing of his pale skin and toned biceps. You shouldn't be simping for a stranger. Get yourself together Collete! I placed my hand over my heart, trying to calm my heart rate.
"YOU SCARED ME!" I shouted at him. He smiled slightly, but it soon faded. The strange man stepped towards me. I stepped back. It was silent for a solid 2 minutes. Was he plotting to kill me? This is so creepy. He definitely gave me a bad feeling. Still, I was too scared to walk away in fear he'd jump me.
"Where are you going?" He questioned, finally breaking the ice.
I thought for a second if I should really tell him or make something up. In the end, I decided to lie to him. I couldn't risk anything bad happening. It was only a small lie though.
"Meeting my boyfriend somewhere." Great going.
He went quiet again.
"Then why are you going to the market?"
YOU ARE READING
ʜɪꜱ ᴘʀᴇʏ || вαηg ¢нαη
FanfictionIn which Collete lives with her grandma in the woods. There have been recent wolf attacks, so they're careful about going out at night. "One day it snowed over a foot, but I had to go to the store to buy some food for breakfast." On her way there sh...
