Snowy Days.

((My inspiration was pulled from Vivaldi's 'Winter' and the sound of marbles on a wooden floor XD
I thought that I should write a small story about how Leatha handles the winter months. Given I've never been in such cold conditions, I wouldn't know how they really felt. I hope you enjoy this anyway!))


Snow came down in a flurry outside Leatha's window, the wind roared with force, pulling the remaining brittle leaves off of the trees skeletal frame. Rattling the windows in their panes. Frost snaked it's way up the glass, obscuring the outside world from the small apartments inhabitants.  The cold seeped into the room, freezing the one occupant of the apartment.

Leatha lay stretched out in the small arm chair. Blankets were piled over her lithe form, her legs swung over one arm, her head laying on the opposite. Leatha drew in a deep breath before letting it go. A snow storm was raging outside, invading the thin walls of her mediocre apartment. Invading her very being, freezing her to the core. The snow had put her into a sleepy haze, similar to the one humans get when they catch the flue.

Unluckily for Leatha the only way to cure this flue was to keep warm. The landlord of this apartment wouldn't let her replace the broken heater, not that she could afford a new one anyway. Most days of winter were spent like this. Working from home in a pillow fort filled with duvets and blankets. Since leatha couldn't produce or maintain her own heat she longed for a mammalian creature to keep her warm. Not that she'd had time to build one before the frost had crawled up her window frames.

A deep rumbling erupted from the pit of Leath's stomach, signaling that she hadn't eaten for a few days. Leatha blinked a few times before sliding off of the chair and onto the cold wood floor with a thump, still wrapped in her warm cocoon of blankets and towels. Leatha inched her way along the ground until she reached her first challenge. How to open the fridge without being sent into a potentially deadly hibernation. Leatha drew the heavy blanets around her shoulders before opening the door.

A blast of cold air hit Leatha with such force as to knock the breath out of her already struggling lungs. Leatha reached in and grabbed the closest thing to her. It was soft and slid around in her hands. Liver. Leatha cringed. Leatha didn't mind the taste, so much as the texture of the organ. Shutting the fridge doors quickly, Leatha fell to the floor and hastily ate the semi-solid lump. It slid down her throat, making her stomach rumble for more. Leatha bit off another piece, not chewing before swallowing.

Leatha had made her way back to the arm chair in a daze, slowly clawing her way along the ground before ending up beside it, her cheek pressed to the ground. Leatha could only see the tatted bottom of the chair and the blackness under it. Consuming her. Leatha jumped awake, not sure how long she had been asleep. Less than twenty four hours? Yes, good. Leatha blinked a few times before her body began to wake up. Her toes began to get tingly, slowly the sensation spread up her body until her could only just feel her extremities. Leatha sighed and rolled over, a small glinting from under the T.V cabinet caught her attention.

Leatha pulled herself groggily over to the oak wood furniture piece, her weary mine focusing on the glinting. Leatha reached under the cabinet and touched a cool ball. The sensation sent shivers up her spine. It was cold and hard. Leatha rolled it out from under it's prison, it made a low rumbling sound on the floor. Leatha studied the glass bead.  It reminded her of the frost on her windows, a small bead of ice, resting under the furniture, waiting patiently for her to discover it.

Leatha tried to figure out what it was, yet she couldn't conjure the word in her clouded mind. It was something starting with a 'm'. She could see small apes flicking the ice ball at another ice ball. They made a small clicking sound when they collided with each other, one of the small apes screeching in triumph. The word came to her "Marble" she mumbled to the small ball resting in her naked palm, "You're a marble"

Leatha eventually caught herself rolling the small glass ball along the ground, listening intently to its rumbles. It seemed to be talking to her, letting her know everything would be alright. Leatha's left cheek was pressed firmly against the ground, the marble rolling back and fourth in front of her clouded eyes. Leatha enjoyed the sensation of feeling the marbles vibrations through the floor.