An Inch Of Infinity (Short Version)

CHAPTER 35~Dangerous Prank

I stare up at the stars. They seem to be dancing in the still dark night. A calm breeze occasionally blows by. My newly cut hair blows gently with it. The smell of ocean air mixes with the smell of the jungle ahead of me. The moon is full and a beautiful silver. The dark wood of the boats seems to blend with the silver moonlight. I can see the jungle, I can hear the lapping waves, I can smell the sea, and I can feel the breeze through my freshly cut hair. The night is beautiful.

I arose to my feet. I look once more at the starts of buildings, and our stone wall. I see Emily lying in the hammock we made. I see people through windows in their new homes.

Everything seems to be asleep and happy. I walk down into the under deck area, and here are the people awake. Some are leaving rooms, others are entering rooms and others are simply standing in the hall chatting with their friends. I walk towards my room. Faith is on her mat, still suspended from the ceiling. Zoey is in Emily's bed. I turn out the light and lie down on the bottom bunk bed. I am about to go to sleep when Faith crawls down from her mat.

She sits at the other edge of my bed. She purrs a strange sound and curls at my feet, like a real house cat, although she is usually more like a feral cat. She wraps herself into a ball and falls asleep. She murmurs words that I can hardly make out in the silence.

"Sorry Kari, it's just so cold in here," but she never finished. She fell asleep too soon. I take one look at her shivering in the darkness and I take off my blanket and wrap it around her. I stick my feet under her pile of blankets and my hands under my pillow. I copy Faith and I curl into a ball. I fall into a dreamless sleep, and I awake frequently to try to get warmer. Eventually, It is too cold to go back to sleep. I make sure that faith is warm enough, then I check on Zoey. She is cold, but not as cold as Faith was. I bring her thin quilt up to her shoulders. I look at the intricate design stitched into the fabric. It wasn't all that warm looking but it must have some sentimental value, for she slept with it ever since I met her.

I walk out of the room and into the hallway. As I stroll down the hallway, only about three people are awake, not including myself. I walked out of the hallway, expecting a freezing cold early morning, but it was mildly warm, especially for winter!. People were sleeping peacefully in their houses. And hammocks, if you count Emily of course.

I walk back inside.Its freezing! I walk down the hall. As I go deeper it gets colder, and my breath becomes a cloud. I am so cold! As I keep walking though, it gets a little warmer. I walk back, colder. I end up walking down a long and twisting corridor to the kitchen.

As I go, it gets colder. I see my breath and people are shivering. I tell them to open a window, that it's warm outside. I hope it works. It is almost time for breakfast to get started. I'm almost to the kitchen.

I get there quickly. There is frost on the windows and patches of ice on the ground. I grab the kitchen door knob. It is so cold I think my hand will fall off! I manage to open the door and I quickly clench my fists to regain warmth in them. I see the problem almost immediately.

Some idiot had gone and left the cooler doors open wide. Chicken, big fish, little fish, fresh fish, and other frozen things-mostly fish- are inside. Now they are partly frozen, and partly thawed. I push gigantic doors shut with some effort. Then, I walk over to the long row of ovens lined against a wall. I crank them and open them one at a time until they are all on. Then I open the door to the corridor. I walk into the corridor trying not to shake. I go to where all of the other people who are awake are, now there are about ten up.

"Go to the kitchen! It's warm!" I say. They are gone before I can finish. I start opening some windows to let out the cold air. I then go to my room and sit on my bed. From the pile of blankets a pair of wise green eyes watch me carefully. I sit down and gently rest my head against the faith shaped lump. A thin arm covered by torn thin fabric reaches out and wraps her arm around my shoulder. She rests her head on top of mine and we sit like that until morning.