Chapter One | 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.

As Ashlynn surveyed her surroundings, a few things stood out to her. A fresh dusting of snow coated the ground, adding another inch or so to the already staggering three. She was basically at eye-level with the frozen flakes if she stood in the right spot, but that was common for a Borrower. Another thing she noticed was that the world seemed quiet and still. There were no noticeable signs of life.

No birds.

No rabbits or other small rodents.

No humans, and this was a good thing.

Knowing humans liked playing in fresh snow, Ashlynn felt like luck might actually be on her side for the time being. This was going to be a good day.

The Borrower moved swiftly across the trampled snow, noting how there was a subtle slickness to the ground as she stepped from tread mark to tread mark. This was going to be dangerous if she hit an ice patch, but did she dare slow down? At the moment, Ashlynn was standing what was essentially out in the open. There were houses to her left and right, but not close enough to make a successful mad dash to safety.

Injury wasn't worth it.

"Just great," she muttered as she forced herself to slow and walk closely near the piled up parts of the snowbank as a brace. Every step felt like a wobbly mess promising to make her slip and twist her ankles. Thankfully, she was as sure footed as a Borrower could be and managed to maneuver her way across the sidewalk and, finally, onto the road.

A human road seemed like an impossibly long distance to cover, especially with only her two feet and a heavy pack on her back. Even as she approached the road, a gentle breeze blew the thin layer of powdery snow across the way, making it look like the frozen tundra she'd seen once before on some kind of TV show she'd glimpsed years ago.

The beauty of the moment couldn't be appreciated now. She looked to the left and then to the right before inhaling sharply and, relying on pure instinct, sprinted across the road. Between the furs on her body and with how small she knew she looked, any human who might've been looking out of the window at that precise moment might think she was some kind of squirrel or other household rodent.

At least, she was counting on it.

Ashlynn's feet pounded hard and fast against the compacted snow. Each step she could've sworn that she could feel the ice trying to make her step slip. The snowbank was right in front of her. Fighting the frost and fatigue in her limbs, she pushed the last bit of energy she had to sprint up the foot tall snowbank in front of her and tumble over the ledge. She slid down the other side and, as luck would have it, spotted a baren hedge bush a mere ten feet away.

And next to that bush was the house she'd had her eye on from across the street.

Hopefully, this place would be a more welcome one than the others she'd visited, which immediately seemed to be the case as she noticed how the snow was compacted down and scraped away from some of the walkways. Ashlynn prayed silently that this was an indicator that the human inside liked spending time outside and would be leaving her alone inside the house.

The mere ten feet was a breeze to walk after so many days out in the elements and, soon after, Ashlynn found herself examining every crack and crevasse in hopes of finding a way inside of the towering walls above her. Perhaps it was sheer will and optimism, but as Ashlynn approached the walls by the bush, she found the smallest of openings and, even more exciting, felt a faint breeze of warm air brushing over her frozen cheeks.

The crack was only an inch or so wide and three inches tall, but that was more than enough for the miniscule woman. The Borrower slipped off her bag and set it to the side as she wiggled her way through the crack, forcing her head and shoulders in first before heaving the rest of her body through. The most difficult part was getting her bag through the gap, mostly because of the blankets and bobbles she'd attached to the outside because of the lack of room on the inside.

The moment she was inside, the relief of warmth began to seep into her joints and bones. Her body started to itch and ache, and she realized the warmth was probably the culprit. It was something that happened when she spent a lot of time outside in the frigid cold, though she wasn't exactly sure why. All she really cared about now was the fact that she was going to be warm tonight.

Ashlynn fished through her pack, pulling out various items and borrowings, until she found her trusted hip lamp. The little light that was seeping in through the crack she'd entered through the house in certainly wasn't enough light to see the labyrinth of walls and beams above her; and it certainly wasn't going to be enough to see any pests she might have to fight off to claim this house as her home.

The light from her lamp glowed with its familiar yellow light and, just like that, Ashlynn could see the underside of the immense human dwelling. The first thing she noticed were the cobwebs and spare scraps of wood and brick that were laying all over on the ground. It was the perfect nest for dangerous things, especially because of the scraps of cloth and twig brush at the far end of the house, but she would have to worry about clearing all of that out during the spring if she decided to stay in this home.

Now was about finding her way inside. Ashlynn hoisted her pack back onto her back and followed along the floor joists until she spotted a tiny gap between the floor and where she stood on the ground. If Ashlynn had to guess, it looked like the house had merely settled and had separated ever so slightly from the main wall.

Bad for the homeowner, but good for her.

Ashlynn set down her pack and, retrieving her hook from the back left side, spun it around and let it fly through the air. The silver hook lodged somewhere high above, and Ashlynn was relieved when it didn't come loose as she tugged. With a couple more tugs, she left her bag attached to the bottom of her string and hoisted herself up the line toward the tiny gap she'd managed to spot.

The gap proved no challenge for the Borrower, but her pack was a bit of another story. It was a punch to the gut, but Ashlynn quickly concluded once she'd heaved her pack through the tiny gap that she'd probably have to leave it behind as she explored her new environment. There was nothing worse than having a pack slow you down, especially if you were in a pinch.

Her brother had learned that the hard way…

But she couldn't think about that now.

At least it'll be safe here, Ashlynn thought to herself as she tied her bag up on a nearby nail head that hadn't quite stuck completely into the wall and fished out her essentials including her pin, her thumb tack, hip lamp, and her borrowing bag. She'd also stripped off several layers of her heavy clothing to remain agile and limber, even though she shivered as she did so.

Cold was enemy number one in her eyes. Always had been. Always would be.

Before she left, she also brough a little bit of spare thread with her to tie or drop to help lead her back to her only possessions. Starting from scratch after the week and three days she'd endured going from place to place was the last thing she wanted.

She'd barely made it three steps when another realization hit her, and it was quickly becoming priority one – food.

After pulling out her essentials, Ashlynn realized she only had a tiny piece of cracker left in her food supply, and now that she was warming up her insides were thawing and reminding her that she needed more than that by the end of the day. She thankfully knew how to operate when hungry, but in her immediate memory Ashlynn couldn't remember when she'd delved into her food bag last.

So, priorities set of finding a proper base and decent food, Ashlynn set out into the walls, unsure of what she was going to find.