Chandea, Year of Severus, 16, I.R., the 1st day of Winter, Broken Springs

-----------------------------

Snow fell from the sky, like cotton floating from the heavens landing into the barren earth. Adaloun stared blankly at the sky, his mind was away from everything else happening around him. The cold breeze blew but he never bothered to cover himself with any extra protective clothing. He sat in front of his dilapidated house that was given to him by the generous alderman who found him walking endlessly on the forest one day.

His skin prickled as the cold; north wind blew once again. He was never bothered by the cold. He sat on his porch, bare chested, drinking his sour wine, and drowning his sorrows. People went pass by him holding thick wools, covering their bodies.

He drank some more and laid his back against his wall. From a distance he saw a little child creeping from the thick snow. The child seemed to be carrying a huge pile of firewood on his back. Adaloun looked away and tried to ignore the child walking in front of him. But the young boy's heaving was audible from where he was.

The young boy was breathing heavily as he slowly sunk in the snow. Adaloun took a glance at the boy once again and only saw his glaring cow lick popping out from the thick snow. The boy was no longer moving. Only the cow lick swayed in the cold breeze as it was slowly being buried by the falling snow.

"Boy!" Adaloun shouted. "Boy, get up!" But the child was motionless, face down on the snow.

Adaloun quickly stood up and staggered towards the boy. The thick and uneven snow was making him fall, but he still pushed on until he finally grabbed the boy out from the snow. He went back inside his house and quickly started a fire using the boy's firewood on his hearth. He covered the boy with the little clothes that he had along with some hay and boiled some water on his hearth as well.

The boy was still cold. He took the pot out of the fire, scooped some snow outside through a small bowl and poured the hot water on it. Once he was able to get the temperature he wanted, he took a small torn cloth, dipped it in the bowl and placed it on the boy's forehead.

The child was still shivering. He took some of his sour wine and placed it in a pot to heat up. After heating up the wine, he then placed it in a mug, cooled it down a bit and let the child drink it. As the wine went down the child's throat, he immediately woke up and spat the obnoxious liquid out, before collapsing back on Adaloun's bed. Adaloun on the other hand felt relieved seeing the boy animated and sat down on his cold floor watching the boy for any changes in his condition.

Night came, Adaloun woke up lying on the cold floor. He sat up and checked the child lying in bed. He touched the child's forehead and felt his warmth. He sighed with relief and stood up to get some sour wine of his own, but he already finished the last jar of it.

He threw the jar to the kitchen and clicked his tongue forgetting the child sleeping behind him. He gathered the shattered pieces of clay on his sink and gathered it on the side. That was when he heard the child groaned.

"Ohhh…" The child sat up from his bed. "W-where am I?"

"Safe." Adaloun answered in a gruffy voice.

The child looked around and saw his shabby room. The pale glow of the moonlight peeked in the little opening of the window of his room.

"Your room stinks!" The child said as he covered nose. "Your bed stinks!"

Adaloun stood in the kitchen with a wide-open jaw.

"What an ungrateful child!" He said to himself.

The child stood up and rubbed his tummy. "I'm hungry." He went to the hearth and checked the pot, but there was none.

"There's no food, there… boy!" Adaloun said.

The boy sighed and sat back on his bed and gave a disappointed sigh.

"My mom would always—" The boy suddenly stood up and ran towards him. "Hey, mister…umm…I am not dreaming, am I?"

Adaloun raised his eyebrows, confused with what the boy was saying.  "What do you mean by that?"

The child's voice shook, "How…long…have I slept?"

"Half a day." Adaloun answered back.

The child became anxious and looked around the room.

"Hey, mister, have you found my firewood?" The child's voice was shivering.

"Firewood." Adaloun nodded. "I've used it to warm you up."

"NO!" The boy knelt and began to sob uncontrollably. "My sister!"

The boy stood up and ran around his house looking for the door. Adaloun calmly walked towards the door and unlocked it for the child. As the door opened, the child immediately rushed outside before Adaloun could warn him of the thick snow gathered outside.

The child stood in front of his porch looking around the pale white ground. "I need to go back home!"

"On this thick snow?" Adaloun scoffed. "That would be impo—"

The boy suddenly jumped into the chest deep snow and walked away into the wilderness.

Adaloun watched the boy leave and wanted nothing to do with him anymore. However, the farther the boy went the more unsettling he became. The boy stumbled in the snow a couple of times before finally sinking into the thick white blanket of snow.

It was getting unbearable for Adaloun to see. As much as he wanted not to care, something inside him was pleading to help the child. The child stood up once again and walked another step or two before collapsing.

Adaloun clicked his tongue and ran towards the kid. Pulling him out of the snow and carrying him back home. The kid was unconscious for a while but went all violent as they were nearing his house.

"No! Let me go!" The child shouted. "I need to go home! Help me!"

"Not in this snow, you can't!" Adaloun answered back.

"No! No! You don't understand! My…sister! She needs the firewood!" He struggled on Adaloun's shoulder, kicking and punching him as hard as he could.

"S-stop s-struggling…ow!" He dropped the dropped the boy from his shoulders after he was hit in the face with a well-timed punch.

The boy cushioned his drop in the snow, but he was too tired to stand up. Adaloun took a moment to pick him up again just in case he fought again.

Adaloun took a deep sigh and picked him up by the waist. That's when he noticed the child sobbing.

"Pleath…" The child's snot bubbled in his nose. "M-my sister needs help!"

-------------------

I would like to apologize for the chapter delays. With the recent implementation of Enhanced Community Quarantine in our country. I am currently having difficulties juggling my work with my passion. I swear to still deliver the same quality of write-ups moving forward, albeit far off the scheduled dates.

Thanks for your kind consideration!

Ad Astra et Ultra!