For the next few days I remained melancholy, quiet, listening to the rain hit the window. When it stopped, the temperature plummeted again and the white mist returned to swirl around us, somehow inside our home, causing all of our Robin feathers to blow out from the Nook, whisking out into open air.

"Eiguh'Ht. Eiguh'Ht!! Catch our feathers!"

Dad and I stifly ran along our beam joist, lamely jumping up to grab out for the feathers swooping and flitting around in a gust. They were everything we had left to keep us warm.

"Keep trying Eiguh'Ht. The more energy you use the warmer you'll get."

With the wind carrying the feathers further out, I pounced over to the next Beam. Dad slightly alarmed at my tresspass and safety.

"No one's left Dad, all of these Beams are ours," I assured.

Hesitantly Dad leaped over with me and we continued jumping for our feathers.

"Behind you, Dad!"

Dad twirled mid air and bounded away, a glutteral laugh bursting out from the depth of his belly, enticing me to laugh with him.
I had some ideas on how to get the other feathers floating further away. Web swinging from the underside of the many wooden joist beams I then ran to the top surface face and continued bouncing and reaching out.
"Eiguh'Ht," Dad called from closer back home, holding out his catch, "three!"

Dad tried straining a smirk off his face, hiding his self pride and how much fun he was actually having.

I tallied none.

Determined to beat Dad, I threw out a lasso of thread, missing every time.
"Four!"

How was he doing it?

When it was only two left, each one fallen so far past our beam and off into the sunken room, I chose one to go for and jumped off with all my might, forgetting all sense of perspective and gravity, whizzing a little too fast but catching my first feather. The second I caught it, a sticky thread caught me, wrapped itself securely and zipped me back home to Dad.

"Sorry Dad, I missed one."

He only shrugged, "Five'll do."

Taking my feather he left me tangled on the rotten wood to go and place our bedding back inside the Nook, pulling out a wood splinter and staking them inside safely from the wind. A second later he thread zipped back over and skillfully chucked me in as well, my tangling of thread sticking the feathers to me nice and cosy.

Snuggled inside our Nook, we both peered out into the lofty night, the dust bits floating in our own spacious, lonely gloom, elegantly equal to the coming night sky.

"Life's funny isn't it Dad. One moment the world is our friend, the next we're eating eachother to survive."
"Life is as it is, Eiguh'Ht, it's no daydream. But we'll stick together and we'll be alright."

"Just the two of us? Tiny, in such a vast space?"

"Eiguh'Ht, Life is unknown and it can be cruel, but every day, we'll do our best. You protect the Nook, I'll bring the food back, no questions asked. Each day of food is a gift."

"What happens when it runs out? Have we eaten everyone who's left?"

There was a long pause before Dad finally answered, "Not everyone. Go to Sleep Eiguh'Ht. Tomorrow's a new day ...and make sure you hang on to them feathers. Chasing those things have knackered me out and it'll soon be too dark to see them fly."

Hugging my three feathers tighter, I felt like I was hugging my only chance of life, and to lose just the one would make all the difference in the battle of 'Winter versus us'.