It was cold, she admitted. The wind stung her cheeks and made her eyes water. It had a way of sneaking into her clothing, chilling her bones. She had repaired old rips and tears in her jacket and pants, but with time, there was only so much she could do before the sets of clothing completely deteriorated due to constant use. 

How did she even get here? After all these years alone, pestered by those bored ghosts, with terrible weather (sizzling hot summers and freezing cold winters), nothing seemed like it would ever become right again. Not today, not tomorrow, never. She sighed. 

"Jeongyeon..." whimpered a ghost. "I want to go back. Send me back to the stars."

"Stop it," she groaned, shooing away the ball of light. "Stop bothering me! That ain't my job, I've told you already!" She covered her head with her hands. "Those voices...they won't stop...I'm going to go crazy with their nagging." 

She barely remembers when this all started. First, there had been the rumors of the plague, a terrible disease that struck down like the angry hand of God. People fell, left and right. The ones who survived were gripped with a terrible panic, an indescribable fear. All of them fled the remains of the town to where it was supposedly safer - the south. At least, that's what they assumed. 

Her mother and father... she didn't know where they were. She didn't even know if they were still alive. Her father, Yoo Chang-Joon, had gone in search of more rocket components, even though her mother had begged him not to. 

"Don't go, dearest!" wept her mother in desperation. "The city is dangerous, and the plague is certain to spread there. You will be at risk!" She clung to father's arm, pleading. 

"I must," he replied firmly, expression grim. "I must go. They are expecting us to construct another rocket, but we do not have the proper equipment nor materials to build one. We need to help the Witches. They are depending on us." 

The Witches were the instigators of the space burial rituals. They blessed the returning souls before their ascent into space. Trained under the leadership of the elders, the chosen Witch emerges several times a year to send off the deceased,

"But dear..." faltered her mother. 

He smiled and leaned down to kiss her. "I'll be back soon. It shouldn't be that long. Wait for me, alright?" 

But he never returned. Weeks went by without a word. Mother was worried. Her face became gaunt and her skin paled. Soon, it was she who packed her bags and left in search of the missing man. 

"MOM!" Jeongeon cried, watching her mom throw a coat over shoulders and hoist the pack on her back. "Where are you going? Don't leave! Please don't leave!"

"To find your father, honey. He has been gone far too long. Perhaps he is lost in the great city and cannot find his way home." Her lips turned up, but her eyes did not shine like they always did. "Don't worry, my child." she patted the frightened little girl's head. "I shall return soon with your papa." 

"Don't leave!"

"Goodbye, Jeongyeon." 

"MOM!"

"That's what she said. That's what they said," muttered Jeongyeon angrily. "But they never kept their promise."

That was 25 years ago. A mere speck in the past, but one she could never forget. She didn't even know if they were still alive. After all, the place they had gone, Hetmis City, had been the first of the region to be overtaken by the Plague. 

Here she was, all alone - well, actually, she was surrounded by thousands of wandering ghosts, souls of those waiting to be returned - with nothing more to do than fiddle with junk and search for supplies to sustain herself. 

She had partially reorganized the factory so that it was more comfortable for living. In one section, she designed a little living area, complete with a heater, an old portable stove, and an insulated sleeping bag that barely did its job of keeping her warm at night. The other two areas of the factory were basically unused, being scattered with old rocket parts like propulsion units and wing flaps. 

Winter was coming, and she was worried. The weather was already getting colder and by the looks of it, the snowstorms were going to be brutal.

"I've done this for 25 years," she tried to reassure herself when she went to chop some wood. "I can survive. That's why I'm here where I am today."

"Jeongyeon..." A child's voice next to her made her jump. "I want my mama...can you bring me to my mother?" 

"I said stop bothering me!" she shouted, swinging her arm toward the ghost who promptly dissipated in the wind. "Leave me alone for once. Complaining to me won't do anything! Geez," she sighed. "This won't end ever, won't it? I'll never get any peace and quiet." She grabbed an armful of the logs and trudged back up the dirt road. 

Only the silence of the abandoned facilities greeted her ears, like always. She neatly arranged the logs before standing back to admire her handiwork. "Should last me at least a few months." With a heavy sigh, she dusted off her hands and shrugged. "Enough to hold out anyway." Pulling her woolen hat further over her ears, she shivered as a particularly cold gust slipped through the cracks of the delipidated doors. 

She opened her small wooden cupboard that stored her food rations; several neatly stacked cans, with barely readable labels, along with a few packages of dried fruit and nut. "I just hope this lasts... who am I talking to anyway?" She swung the cabinet door close with a "clang" in frustration. 

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