Read Sign of the cold cottage :: Chapter 01 • page 02

My heart ached and I yearned to learn more, but my reality quickly shifted as I jolted awake trying to catch my breath. I burst into tears, racing to my mother's room, and snuggling up to their still bodies. As I curled my arms around my mother, something was off, she was cold and unmoving, she would have normally awoken by now. I sniffle, wiping away my tears as I look closer at my mother's face. Instead of my mother's face, I am met with an empty wooden figure staring back at me, the wood painted pale.

I croaked as my crying erupted once more, but this time more violently as if a volcano erupted inside of me. I turned quickly, facing my father, who was no longer lying, but sitting and staring right back at me. I quickly jumped off the bed. Though, instead of turning and running out of the door, I continued facing the bed as I slowly backed out of the room. Once I reached the doorway, I sprinted, darting down the hallway. At the end of the hall, I fell onto my knees and hit the ground with a thud. A silent air wisped around my face, drawing my head up, just to look directly into my mother's wooden eyes.

I slowly stood up, avoiding touching the wooden figure, that was posed as if it was getting ready to hug me from above. I turned towards the front door, which was now at a sprinting distance. I pondered a moment glancing back at my ‘mother’ before having the realization that my father’s wooden self must have moved if my mother’s had. With that, I sprinted towards the door, only to be met with a heavy force striking me to the ground, knocking me out only a moment before I was able to reach the door handle.