Long Recovery
Alaska was too cold. Snake found himself cursing, out loud, repeatedly, to the nothingness in his empty fireplace.
"Damn wood, stupid matches." Strings upon strings of incoherent curses erupted from his mouth as he quickly got out of bed and put on three layers. Venturing outside was not on the top of his priorities, not since he arrived, but he would freeze to death without more wood for the fire. He recently found out that burning ashes didn't get him very warm. Outside the snow fell diagonally in rapid twists and turns, the wind broke around his hood and tossed the fur lining about. He quickly ran to the shed and pulled out a pile of firewood, scurrying back inside as if it would somehow be magically warmer now. He dropped the whole pile into the fireplace, doused it with lighter fluid, and set it ablaze. As he stepped out of his multiple layers of clothing he paused to thaw out each part of his body.
He slowly crept back into bed, content with the fire's warmth, finally able to try to stop tossing and turning and finally get to sleep naturally, without sedatives. He had been unable to do even that since he arrived in Alaska.
The next morning the sun was shining. He could hardly tell the difference by the temperature, in fact it seemed to be a few degrees colder now.
He heard whispers outside, so he looked out the window. Two native boys dressed in animal furs were hiding behind a pile of fresh snow. He chuckled and went to put on his three layers.
Outside, the boys seemed curious and intuitive, yet somehow fearful, of him. No doubt they had come to see for themselves whether the rumor of a tired grumpy old man living in the old cabin was true.
Feeling mischievous, Snake picked up a piece of snow as he meandered over to the two boys to say hello. Their native language was easy enough to pick up, so he tried that, greeting them warmly.
"Well hiya, sir." They said, giggling.
Snake raised one brow.
"How long have you been out here?" He asked, rolling up the snow into a ball behind his back.
"We just got here." One of them said, he looked to be the oldest.
"And tell me, do your parents usually let you roam around grumpy old mysterious men's properties?" He said, looking authoritative, yet happy.
"Uhh.no.we just-"
"Wanted to see the old man for yourselves? Well here I am, not so glamorous eh?"
"Uhh."
"Have you been in any wars?" The younger one finally spoke up in a much smaller voice.
"That's none of your business," He said too quickly and too sharply, "You better run along home. Come back tomorrow, if you like, I may tell you a war story."
"Uhh, yes sir." The older one said. He took his sibling by the shoulder and they both scurried away.
"Wait, I have something for you." He said, remembering the snowball.
Without looking, both stopped and shook as if in fear.
"Don't worry, it's not-"
Both of them turned around at the same time and sent two snowballs hurling at his stomach, hitting their mark.
"Agh, hey!" He tossed his and barely missed the older one's shoulder.
The two boys took off running into the distance and out of sight behind a mound of snow.
Snake smiled as they left, comforted, for the first time since.No, he would not think of those times now. Feeling the cold returning to his face, he went back inside and attended to the days chores.
Alaska was too cold. Snake found himself cursing, out loud, repeatedly, to the nothingness in his empty fireplace.
"Damn wood, stupid matches." Strings upon strings of incoherent curses erupted from his mouth as he quickly got out of bed and put on three layers. Venturing outside was not on the top of his priorities, not since he arrived, but he would freeze to death without more wood for the fire. He recently found out that burning ashes didn't get him very warm. Outside the snow fell diagonally in rapid twists and turns, the wind broke around his hood and tossed the fur lining about. He quickly ran to the shed and pulled out a pile of firewood, scurrying back inside as if it would somehow be magically warmer now. He dropped the whole pile into the fireplace, doused it with lighter fluid, and set it ablaze. As he stepped out of his multiple layers of clothing he paused to thaw out each part of his body.
He slowly crept back into bed, content with the fire's warmth, finally able to try to stop tossing and turning and finally get to sleep naturally, without sedatives. He had been unable to do even that since he arrived in Alaska.
The next morning the sun was shining. He could hardly tell the difference by the temperature, in fact it seemed to be a few degrees colder now.
He heard whispers outside, so he looked out the window. Two native boys dressed in animal furs were hiding behind a pile of fresh snow. He chuckled and went to put on his three layers.
Outside, the boys seemed curious and intuitive, yet somehow fearful, of him. No doubt they had come to see for themselves whether the rumor of a tired grumpy old man living in the old cabin was true.
Feeling mischievous, Snake picked up a piece of snow as he meandered over to the two boys to say hello. Their native language was easy enough to pick up, so he tried that, greeting them warmly.
"Well hiya, sir." They said, giggling.
Snake raised one brow.
"How long have you been out here?" He asked, rolling up the snow into a ball behind his back.
"We just got here." One of them said, he looked to be the oldest.
"And tell me, do your parents usually let you roam around grumpy old mysterious men's properties?" He said, looking authoritative, yet happy.
"Uhh.no.we just-"
"Wanted to see the old man for yourselves? Well here I am, not so glamorous eh?"
"Uhh."
"Have you been in any wars?" The younger one finally spoke up in a much smaller voice.
"That's none of your business," He said too quickly and too sharply, "You better run along home. Come back tomorrow, if you like, I may tell you a war story."
"Uhh, yes sir." The older one said. He took his sibling by the shoulder and they both scurried away.
"Wait, I have something for you." He said, remembering the snowball.
Without looking, both stopped and shook as if in fear.
"Don't worry, it's not-"
Both of them turned around at the same time and sent two snowballs hurling at his stomach, hitting their mark.
"Agh, hey!" He tossed his and barely missed the older one's shoulder.
The two boys took off running into the distance and out of sight behind a mound of snow.
Snake smiled as they left, comforted, for the first time since.No, he would not think of those times now. Feeling the cold returning to his face, he went back inside and attended to the days chores.