Wonderer's Wish World: An Empty Land

Kipo, It's Cold Outside

Kipo always woke up at the crack of dawn, every single day, like clockwork. Even before, when she hadn't had a bed, when the sun got up Kipo did too. At this point, no matter how long Kipo stayed up, she'd awaken at the same time, and get up to watch the sun peek up from the treetops of the faraway forest.

So, when Kipo opened her eyes and it was still pitch black, she was confused. Feeling puzzled, Kipo yawned and sat up. Why had she gotten up so early? Late? What time was it and what on earth could've gotten her up?

However, as soon as the blanket fell down from Kipo's shoulders, she got her answer. With a startled yell, she reached out, grabbing the blankets quickly to cover herself again. It was freezing, like her skin was turning to ice as soon as it touched the air.

Despite being, well, asleep, most nights, Kipo was certain that this wasn't normal. There was no way it could get this cold at night; Kipo was already starting to see frost creep in from the dark corners of her room.

Kipo shivered. What was the reason for this sudden temperature drop? There's no way winter could just appear overnight.

But Kipo could really say that for sure. Despite this planet looking like earth and having the same constellations as earth, Kipo really did have no clue where she was. For all she knew, this was just how it worked here.

Now Kipo couldn't stop shivering. Despite the heavy blankets she held tightly against herself, she was still starting to feel the chill. Kipo swung her legs over the side of the bed. She needed to find a heat source, and quick.

Reaching her hand out of the blankets (and wincing when the cold hit her exposed arm like a baseball bat) Kipo quickly grabbed her jacket, and shrugged it on underneath the blanket. She grit her teeth. The jacket, of course, was cold, just like the rest of the room.

"It'll warm up, it'll warm up," Kipo promised herself, and she stepped out onto the floor in search for her shoes. It was immediately regretted.

The floor was so cold it was almost painful, and Kipo cried out when she felt the sharp chill sink through her socks and into her feet. But she resisted the urge to pull her feet back up, and stood up, hurrying to her door, where her shoes waited patiently. It felt like she was stepping on nails. Kipo made a note to herself to always keep her shoes nearby from now on.

With her feet now moderately less cold than before, Kipo started out. She might need to go through the house again, there must be something there to warm herself.

Kipo started looking through the closets first, there were two, and while they were filled with sheets and pillowcases, there was no coats to be found. Kipo took as many sheets as she could, wrapping them around her and her blanket, and continued on. These sheets would be useful for keeping her warm.

There were five rooms in The House. There was a washroom (with working plumbing, thankfully, though Kipo wasn't sure how long that'd last), a kitchen (the previous owner had left both perishable and non-perishable food items in there. Kipo took the perishable ones, and then just tried to never ever go in the kitchen. It stunk of rotting food), a bedroom (the MOST used room in The House, for obvious reasons), the living room (which, apart from some couches and a broken tv, was pretty much useless) and the room with the corpse. As Kipo passed by it, she consciously averted her eyes. The door was closed, yet Kipo still couldn't bare looking at it.

Kipo doubted that there'd be anything in the kitchen, and even if there was, she'd be incredibly hesitant to go in there, so she started off towards the living room.

The living room was a little bigger than the bedroom, but not much. It was clear that The House only inhabited on person (probably the corpse in that room, but Kipo shoved that thought away), so the supplies Kipo was able to scavenge were rather sparse. Kipo had only been living in The House for a couple weeks, yet she'd already had to heavily ration what was left of the non perishables. She considered it a treat her herself, on what were admittedly unspecial days. Kipo would just say 'I think I did good today' and she ate of can of whatever was in her little pile.