Unpromised Home

torrential downpour

'in which you find an acquaintance'

Your face was buried in the white cover of your pillow. The covers over your head kept the heat in, protecting you from the outside's cold that has seeped into your room over the night. The quiet of the house pounded in your head, neither of your roommates making a noise. Due in part to neither of them being home.

Your stomach heaves in hunger as you roll over to your side. With the movement the blanket folds, revealing your face to the cold. As your eyesight adjusts to the room a shiver spikes through your body. Groaning in discomfort, you throw the blanket back over your face.

It had been an unreasonably slow morning for you. So slow in fact, you were almost certain that it was past noon. You had heard Vivian walking around in the kitchen what had to be hours ago, with no reaction from you. Another growl from your stomach might finally be the thing to push you out of bed though.

With a grumble you roll onto the floor, pulling your blanket with you. The thud, as jarring as it was, was nothing compared to the sudden cold that was plastered onto your bare arm. Jolting up, you stare at your wall in a daze. An unrelenting pounding fills the cavity in your head as your brain cells take a vacation.

A hand on your head and the blanket around your shoulders, blindly you stumble your way to the kitchen. Pulling open the fridge you squint trying to decide what to have for breakfast. Well... Late breakfast, seeing as though you were correct in your assumption that it was past noon. With a carton of eggs in hand, you close the fridge door again.

Glancing out the window you watch the rain plow past. It had been like this all morning. Another reason you had no desire to get out of bed. The rain made you miserable from the moment you heard it pounding down from outside your window.

With a sigh, you set the carton on the counter. Opening the drawer with the pans you pull one out, banging it against the drawer a few times as you do. With the pan on the stove, you crack two eggs into it, before turning the heat on. Shuffling around with your blanket clutched in one hand, you go for the salt and pepper on the other side of the kitchen. After the egg was salted and peppered to your liking you lean against the counter next to the stove.

Your eyes trailed to the window again. The rock on the small window sill sat there dimly. Cold and grey and unassuming. You have no clue why Vivian held onto the thing after leaving Roling. Even if it was sparkly in the sun, it held no purpose, and certainly wouldn't be the first thing on your list to grab if you had to leave your home suddenly. She was incredible at marching to the beat of her own drum.

A clap of thunder rolled out, followed shortly by a bright flash of lightning. The light above your head flickered abruptly. You glance over at your eggs. They'd better finish cooking before the power goes. A second clap of thunder. You glare at the eggs, daring the power to take away your late breakfast.

The betrayal left a sharper pain in your heart than when you failed the calculus test. It was dark in the kitchen. Little light flooded in from the cloudy outside. A dramatic groan fell from your mouth, as you slid against the cupboards to the ground. Your hands cradled your head as you sat helplessly in the dark.

What does a girl have to do to get through living in the past? Too many things have gone wrong too many times, and you were reaching your limit. Even if the power going out wasn't the end of the world, it was a building windstorm battering against a house built from straw. Hasn't killed you yet, but it was getting terrifyingly close.

Your heart pounded in your chest as you pulled the blanket around your knees. This was ridiculous. Who has a breakdown over the power going out? Who stays in bed all day because it was too cold? Who avoids going outside to avoid re-meeting one police officer?