On these outings, any fish we’d caught had become our dinner. (I’d tried to forget the number of fish that I, personally, had caught...) But actually, we won’t be able to do that anymore—our family is too large. We might be able to fish for our leisure, but for dinner...we can forget about it.
We currently had a day off. I’d planned on heading out with Krul, Lucy, Hayate, and Maribel on a bit of an excursion—it would be best if Maribel learned more about the terrain of our forest. However, I canceled plans pretty soon after I woke up.
I got out of bed, grabbed the water jugs, and opened the door. I didn’t need to sigh to see that my breath was white from the cold. My four daughters were all breathing puffs of white too as they approached. They were less nimble than usual, and they seemed a bit unsteady.
Snow had piled up last night—a thick blanket of white covered the ground around our cabin. Since trees didn’t grow in the clearing, I could feel the sun’s rays, which was nice, but unfortunately, the clearing also worked against us during snowstorms. Since no foliage barred the snow’s path, it fell straight onto the ground and piled up. Is this better than constantly being worried about snow falling off branches onto our heads?
My daughters crunched through the snow as they walked up to me. Maribel could fly (though not very high), but she seemed to enjoy the feeling of snow and chose to walk too.
“Are you fine with the cold?” I asked.
“Yep, I’m all right,” Maribel replied.
“I see. I’m truly glad you’re with us during cold months like these.”
“Yeah? Heh heh.”
Maribel grinned happily; she emanated a faint warmth, and snow had begun to melt all around her. Since it’s so cold, I’m sure that she warmed up the rest of my daughters. I petted Lucy’s head, and Krul gently rubbed her snout against me, requesting an empty water jug.
“Isn’t it cold?” I asked as I placed the jug around her neck.
She tilted her head to one side. “Kulu?”
It seemed the cold didn’t bother her much. Since she looked so much like a reptile, I’d rudely compared her to one. I’d assumed that she underwent brumation or something, but that didn’t seem to be the case. She was a drake and in a special class of her own.
“Arf! Arf!”
“Lucy, are you all right too?” I asked.
“Arf!”
She stood up and begged for head pats; I crouched and petted her. I was worried about her feet. She looked like a normal wolf, and I didn’t want the pads on her feet to be frostbitten, but I recalled that timber wolves were perfectly fine sleeping atop the snow. Maybe Lucy’s okay too. Samya said that it gets pretty cold around here, and all the creatures of the forest have probably learned to adapt. Plus, Lucy’s a magical beast.
Upon closer inspection, I noticed that the fur on Lucy’s feet was longer than it had been in the summer, and her coat seemed much thicker. Oh my god! She’s floofy! Hayate was the only one who seemed to obviously avoid the snow. She was perched on Krul’s back, and then she flew onto my shoulder. When she saw Lucy frolicking around, Hayate was tempted—she ventured to touch the ground for just a moment, but...
“Krah!”
She gave a small squeal and hastily returned to my shoulder.
“I’ll be honest, Hayate, I definitely relate to you more,” I said.
“Kree...”
I had multiple layers wrapped around my body, but none were waterproof, and I didn’t have any thermal socks. Slowly but surely, the cold was getting to me. Maybe I’m the one most likely to get frostbitten.
“All right, since it’s so cold, let’s hurry up and get this over with! Make sure you don’t fall,” I warned.
And so, I marched on ahead. As I grew older, snow more often put me in a melancholic mood, but when I was surrounded by my daughters, I felt more excited than usual.
“Ugh, it’s so cold!” I exclaimed.
My water run had taken a bit more time than usual. I threw off my shoes, layers and all, and placed my feet in front of the stove, which was already roaring away. The heat melted away the chill—I wanted to completely dry off while warming my body. I was probably fine in this weather, but I didn’t want any Trichophyton infections to break out. Gotta teach the fungi that my feet are not safe spaces for them to start spreading. But...I should probably ask Lidy about useful spells and medicinal herbs that could be effective during times of need. The heat of the stove warmed up the room nicely. Maribel could become our second heater if needed, but today wasn’t her time to shine.
Anne was still in a daze because Rike was brushing her hair. The princess wasn’t really a morning person, so no amount of warmth would get her going faster. Rike had taken care of her younger siblings, and she brushed Anne’s hair every day, so she was used to it. Helen and Samya, who were done with their morning preparations, were stretching their bodies; Diana combed her own hair while talking with Lidy, who was wiping off Maribel’s feet.
It truly was a peaceful scene—like something straight out of a painting. I was usually busy preparing breakfast by this time, and it wasn’t often that I got to gaze upon them in the mornings. But maybe I should make some time every now and then. Once my feet were dry and I’d warmed up enough, I added water to the pot on the stove that doubled as a humidifier and headed to the kitchen to prepare some breakfast.
“You guys went out too?” I asked.
“Yep,” Samya replied.
Over breakfast, we talked about the snow that had piled up. Anyone could tell from a glance outside that a thick layer of snow had fallen overnight—the clearing seemed abnormally quiet. I feel like it absorbs sound or something. If one were to gaze right out the window, the transformed scenery was as clear as day. I’d assumed that everyone would stay indoors because they weren’t used to this amount of snow, but Samya, Rike, and Helen had ventured outside for a short while. Diana and Lidy had skipped the outing because they were sensitive to the cold, and Anne was too groggy in the mornings to step outside.
“This isn’t the first time I’ve experienced this much snow. It’s pretty fun!” Samya exclaimed.
“But it was cold, and we had to wash up, so we immediately came back inside,” Rike added.
The ladies often spruced up in the mornings. As an old man, I had a different perspective: We’re in the Black Forest, in this much snow, so no visitors will drop by our cabin. Why bother trying to look nice? I kept that to myself, though. Clearly, I had nothing to gain and everything to lose from vocalizing my thoughts.