Frostbound

I woke to the glow of the rising sun, birds chirping and the wind making branches sway. Day 5. I could hear others already awake walking around and the clinking of pots and pans. Sitting up I took a minute to take in the view. The sun was already in the sky so I didn't get to see the sunrise, but it was still beautiful nonetheless. Facing the sun in the east with the mountains to the north and the forest to the south made it seem like it was a scene from a movie. Wait, does the sun still rise in the east? The map from the beginning showed that it was east but if we weren't on Earth anymore, then I couldn't take it as a fact.

"What's got you thinking so deeply this early in the morning? I'm surprised you're even up given the hour." I turned to see my dad walking over with a cup of something in his hand. He must have seen my facial expression morph from thoughtful to excited so he added, "It's water. You've seen how expensive luxury goods are. It's not worth it."

"It should be against the law to deny someone their coffee." That was another thing that was odd about the way that the store organized what tab each good was under. Since coffee wasn't a food and not necessary for survival, it was labeled a luxury good. Not only did it have the price of a luxury good, it was also classified as a stimulant from the caffeine and that carried its own added price. You would think there was a discount since it was technically addictive, but no, that would be too generous.

"I'm not sure there are any laws anymore." He said taking a seat next to me, to share in facing the view.

Huh, I didn't even think about that. How many people have already died from this? How many people are gonna die before this is over? There won't be a government to come back to, so who's gonna enforce the law? I guess it's gonna come down to whoever has the biggest stick. He must have known where my mind was going so he spoke again to cut it off.

"I didn't come over here to have that conversation, that's for another time. What were you thinking about before I said anything?"

"What? Oh, I was thinking about how we don't know if the sun still rises in the east." I said. He must have found my thoughts funny because he started laughing when I told him.

"What? What's so funny?" I asked.

"Only you would think something like that right now. Most of us are trying to figure out how we are gonna survive and protect our children while you're over here pondering about the universe." He said still chuckling to himself.

"Everything that we can change we are already working on changing, and anything we can't, well that's not really worth getting worked up about. You know what saying I'm talking about" I couldn't remember the exact words to the quote I was talking about but he should know what I was referring to.

My thoughts were simple. If it was something that we couldn't change, it wasn't worth the effort to fret over it. I couldn't send us back home. I didn't know any more than the next guy about what was in store for us. I was never the kind of person to worry about that kind of thing. I left that to my sister.

"I know you think that way, but aren't you worried about our safety? What if the next wave isn't as easy as the others? What if someone gets hurt? Or worse?" I could tell he was worried. It was in his tone and the way he spoke.