So cold. Her throat felt raw and dry, burnt and itchy. Every cough felt like a blade. Her head and chest ached from the sinus pressure, a constant throbbing that made her curl up in pain, wishing for it to stop. Her nose was endlessly runny, and when it wasn't, it was crusted, frozen and blocked. She couldn't feel her ears, nevermind move them.
Too cold. Where was she again? The child would open her sore, watery eyes to a squint, confused. She couldn't remember. Whiteness. Snow. Hail. The wet wood of the cabin wall. Her cabin. Her family's cabin. She was outside, on the porch, nothing but the scarf thrown over her shoulders. Why was she out here? She had been inside. Book. The book she'd been reading. She'd left it outside, in a hollow log. Soggy pages and bleeding ink. The thought had horrified her. Now her own pain overpowered that.
Freezing. She lay half on her side, curled into a ball. She was shivering severely, a small, damp ball of pale fur. Though large at her age, her coat was clinging to her skin, giving her a weak and defenseless appearance. There was warmth ahead. Just in the door. She couldn't bring herself to get up. Her muscles were stiff and slow to respond. Eventually, after stumbling, she made it to her feet. She could do this. One step. Two steps. Three steps - she tripped, landing in the snow once again. Her paws felt like ice cubes, and pained her to walk on. But she could do it. Slowly.
I can't. It was too difficult. That was her mind speaking. She was drained of energy, and more gradually, her optimism. She felt miserable. Usless. Depressed. Scared. She had to make it inside. What if she died out here? She felt her heart speed up at the thought, yet couldn't feel any more warmth coursing through her body than before. If anything, her heart rate was stressful. Added to it all. She needed to call for help. Her vocals felt frozen. Another step. Just make it to the door. Another stumble, but she kept her balance. Two steps. She fell. "He-help," she croaked, voice barely a whisper.
//to sum it up, Alice at this point has moderate hypothermia. She is outside the family cabin, collapsed in the snow. There's not much to be done except to slowly warm her up at the moment, as it's not yet life-endangering. It will develop into severe hypothermia in the later phases of the storm plot, but I'll adress that when the time comes c:
