you take the things you like, and try to love the things you took.

[wizard_alive]

She'd been grateful for the cool breeze at 10AM. By noon, she'd started banking back her garden, protecting as much of the plants as possible from the coming cold. She'd been elbow-deep in dirt anyway, and she moved as fast as possible through the beds of flowers and vegetables. 1:30, and she was heading to New Gilead, running through the other

Comments

[polly_okeefe]

I thought there was something odd about the weather when I woke up this morning, but I didn't really think about it as I went through today's preschool session. When I came out at noon, however, a cold wind ripped right through me. I blinked in astonishment and may have let out a yell. Then I took in the frantic moves of the other Islanders. Something was coming. Something big, and cold

[wizard_alive]

Nita's eyes widened, and she stared at the animal pelt. "What?!" Her arms were pink, and she realised she could see her breath. "I'm not going to catch my death." She sucked in another breath, making a face.

Sure, maybe she was in a bad mood, maybe she was just focused. "I'm almost through."

[polly_okeefe]

I drew one coat around me and hopped from foot to foot, trying to keep warm. "Nita!" Then, realizing that nothing was going to haul her back to the compound short of physical violence, I instead asked, "How much do you have to do? Can I help?"

The last time the weather changed, the foliage changed as well, but that didn't look like it was happening here.

[wizard_alive]

"Just the rest of this row," she said distractedly, digging in the dirt. "Check and make sure people are pulling out things to cover the plants, alright?" She squinted back up at the sky, the dark clouds threatening to bucket snow. You didn't live in New York without figuring out what Lake Effect was, and this looked pretty similar.

"Sheets will work, in a pinch. Plastic tarps are better, but harder to find."

[lt_blade]

Sonya had heard of the island turning into a 'winter wonderland' she was sure the people weren't talking about this. No one said anything about the wind chill turning cold, and from the looks of things, no one else expected it either. She herself had to brave the clothes box, pulling on a pink sweater and green overcoat- circumstances dictated that color coordination take a back seat.

When Sonya stepped out of the compound, the girl in summer clothes caught her attention. She moved into the garden, quickly draping the overcoat over the girl's shoulders before joining in to help transfer the plants. It was obvious that one person couldn't do this all on their own, let alone a girl on the verge of hypothermia.

[wizard_alive]

It was cold, but the wind had just started to pick up. She huffed out of breath, jumping as the coat was draped suddenly around her shoulders. "Thank you," she said, half breathless. "No, it's like this." She shifted, showing the stranger how to deepen the soil around the root structure to give the delicate tendrils more protection from the cold.

"This could all be for nothing," she said, squinting up at the Compound. "I think someone else is going to be covering the plants for the frost."

[lt_blade]

Sonya did as the girl instructed with the plants, knowing that in this weather she'd have to know what she was doing or she wouldn't bother.

"A covering would only help so much." She answered back, remembering to take deep breaths to increase her body heat, taking a brief moment to look at the sky. "The weather's going to get worse, I can tell."

She went back to tending the plants, moving quickly to keep her circulation going as well as to protect the plants.

[wizard_alive]

"Covering protects the green against frost," she said, still focused. "And I know. Usually, the plants themselves change, and it didn't happen this time."

[and_the_dragon]

George had been out and about various places during the day, doing this, that and the other thing, and when the weather had started turning he and Fred headed in the direction of the Compound to check for some supplies and things. Blankets would have been good, also some warmer clothes perhaps

[wizard_alive]

"That's why I'm out here," she said distractedly, packing dirt around the root systems of the plants. She finally looked up, and saw that his arms were full of clothes. "I- George?" It was the first time she'd actually stopped - and her brain had stopped too - since noon.

[and_the_dragon]

When she finally looked up from her plant bed, George threw the clothes (but not the boots) at her. "Yeah, and if you stay out here in just what you're wearing you'll catch your death," he said, sounding an awful lot like his mother as he did. He scowled at himself and walked the heavy boots over to her. "Come on, don't be stubborn. A couple of minutes isn't going to be life or death is it?" he asked. Even if she thought it was, too bloody bad.

[wizard_alive]

She teetered where she was crouched, half catching the clothes even though they trailed in loose dirt. She tugged them on with stiff fingers, shaking her head. "Not cold enough to catch my death," she said, her brows rising in surprise as she realised she could see her breath. ".... Scratch that. Will you help? I don't have a lot left."

[notwithmyhand]

When Alain returned to New Gilead on Magdalena, intending only to get himself and his mount quickly watered and fed, he saw Nita doing what they should have thought of doing before taking off to all corners of the island. They'd covered their most precious crops, those from the seeds of Gilead, but not carefully, and not well in their haste.

Alain dismounted, unsaddled Magdalena and through a saddle blanket over her back before he left her to feed.

"Tell me what's needed," he said as he came close.

[wizard_alive]

"Pack dirt around the root base- it doesn't matter if you cover the sprouts- it's actually better. We'll dig them out and rewater them when it's warm." If it got warm, something Nita wasn't even going to think about.

She spared him a glance, glad that he'd not commented on her shorts and tank top. There were way more important things to worry about.

[notwithmyhand]

He saw that she looked just as unprepared as half of the men and women he'd helped already, but he also saw her face. She was determined to see the job done.

Nodding, he crouched a row away from her, watched what she did and did the same. "You've been out all morning?" he asked.

[wizard_alive]

She nodded shortly, moving down the line, then stopped, looking up at him. "Since seven," she said, not even sure what time it was anymore.

She swallowed hard. "What've you been doing?" Surely he's noticed that it had turned cold, but... She lost control of her thought as she tug again in the dirt.