The red dawn came again. The last day before they came. My fences were strong. It was a blisteringly hot day, but I could do this. Because the walls were done. I would be protected.

I really, really needed to be protected.

The day was hot, but I used some stamina to drop those Halloween decorations in the dumpster. There was no way I was going to let them stay here when they were coming tonight. I then checked the to-do list to see what I had left.

Repair the damages caused by them

Strengthen the wall around the house and the greenhouses

Finish the chicken coop

Purchase a third article of building clothing

Clean all walls on first floor of home

Considering they would be coming tonight, my anxiety told me there were way too many things left on my to-do list, and I was going to get attacked again by them again. I took a deep, steadying breath, and reminded myself that the fences were strengthened. They couldn’t come in here. If anything, the rest of the things on my to-do list was just keeping me from a nice dopamine bonus. It wasn’t necessary for me to finish it all. I hoped.

The day was way too hot to do much. I drank the rest of my milk in order to chop more logs into firewood for the chicken coop. I worked fast, as I only had ten minutes of regular stamina to get as much done as I could. Being able to shove twenty firewood into the chicken coop with one tree was nice. The chicken coop was slowly starting to grow. I didn’t dare hope that firewood would be the last thing I needed. I learned my lesson to not assume.

I chopped down one more tree before running inside before my milk timer ran out and the heat would get to me. I stared outside, trying to decide what I wanted to do. There were the things I wanted to do, then the things I needed to do. My stamina was close to the quarter mark. If I went out there right now in the heat and chopped those logs into firewood, I would have to eat through a lot of my soup supply. It was doable, because I was reaching the point where I had a nice stash of soups saved up. A part of me still resisted, though. It was such a waste. A waste, when I could be spending time decluttering upstairs.

I closed my eyes, remembering the fresh horror of seeing that blood trickling out of that locked door. That sight alone made me promise to never go on the second floor when it got dark.

My eyes opened as I glanced at my sanity. It was full, which meant I needed to stop dwelling on blood coming out of doors and all the haunted activity I sensed from the second floor. I needed to save it all for tonight.

What I really wanted to do was to try fishing. I checked the clipboard, though, and a fishing rod was 15.00 dopamine points. I would get it eventually, but it was so tempting to get it now. Despite not having 10.00 points, and knowing I needed to save it all up to get that third article of clothing for building.

The river still had a lot of trees around it, which I hoped meant it wouldn’t use any of my stamina on a hot day. The heat of the day didn’t hit me if I was in the shade. I could be at the river, catching another food source. Relaxing, with a cup of lemonade, not thinking about the horrors of why I was here.

Lemonade. That would probably beat this heat. I didn’t have the ingredients, though. What was it. Lemons, sugar, and cold water?

I froze, then my head slowly turned toward the sink. I had running water. I may not have lemons or sugar, but would cold water be enough?

It needed to be tested. At this point, it would be stupid not to. I grabbed a cup from the beautiful cherrywood cupboard and filled it with water, downing it. Nothing happened. But I wasn’t done testing. I filled the cup of water again, then walked over to the fridge and placed it in there. I closed the door, and I watched, eyes brightening, as a timer started counting like the brick building. Thirty minutes. Thirty minutes until it was cold.

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In a rush, I grabbed two more cups and filled them with water, shoving them in the fridge, then filled two more and shoved them inside. When I got to my sixth and seventh cup of water, something stopped me from placing them in there. I must have reached the limit. Didn’t matter. I was riding this high. I’d figured out how to make something cold.

As I waited for that timer to tick down, I began gathering clutter in the hallway. There were so many bags of things. This definitely felt like a hoarder who got their happiness from buying things. It was such a shame, too. There were so many bags that would never be used. They looked like they were mid-nineties stuff in here, which again begged the question whether this was my childhood home. This was not Doug and Brenda’s home, because the memories showed me their house. It wasn’t anything like this one. Was this the home I had that I spent with my mother. My mother who overdosed and died when I was a child.

I waited, expecting tears, but they didn’t come. For whatever reason, I felt the same amount of assurance that my younger self in those memories felt. My mom liked to sleep. Sleep all the time. And now she could. Forever.

I closed my eyes and shook my head. All of this was just too weird. It was strange to remember who I was from an outsider’s perspective.

I walked out the front door with a box of stuff and placed it at the edge of the shade. I hoped I got something from the cold water, but something told me it wouldn’t be like milk. I tried not to curse myself for dropping an entire jug of milk in the dumpster that first week here. I didn’t know, and I refused to regret it. I needed the dopamine points.

The timer finished counting for the first glass of water, and I opened the fridge and drank the water. Three minutes. That was fine. Those were three minutes I would use.

I sprinted outside and lifted my axe, chopping those logs into boards, then the boards into firewood. So far, I had 36/50 firewood in the chicken coop, and I wouldn’t have to cut down another tree. Just the logs and boards.

I downed another glass when the three minute timer was done and ran back out there. I got to one minute and thirty seconds when I was overcome with nausea. I completely forgot to keep an eye on my stamina!

Well, it didn’t matter. I had three glasses of water left. Instead of chopping, I ran around the house to the front porch and grabbed boxes of stuff, dropping them into the dumpster. I noticed that stuff from the second floor gave a higher dopamine point. Not nearly the level of logs or boards, but usually between .05 to .08. I kept stuffing those boxes into the dumpster until my timer had seconds left, then I ran back into the shade before making my way back to the kitchen.

Alright, well. From drinking two glasses of water, I managed to get two of the logs chopped to firewood. Three minutes was better than nothing, but I really missed the ten minutes the milk gave. Plus, I was pretty sure my stamina was partially used up with how fast I was running, too.

I walked into the covered back porch and opened the food storage room. I stepped down and grabbed the first bowl of tomato soup I could find. I needed to remember to keep an eye on my stamina. I brought the first bite close to my mouth when I froze. I then glanced at the tomato soup before my gaze shot to the fridge. I wonder…

I placed the tomato soup in the fridge and closed the door. There was a pause, then a half hour timer appeared. I pumped my fist in the air before rushing to the food storage area.

I grabbed a tomato and potato soup to test. I carefully opened the fridge door and eased the two inside. The potato soup was stopped by some invisible wall, but the tomato soup entered.

“I will take it,” I said.

Once the fridge had five tomato soups inside, I busied myself again with organizing the hallway. A few more boxes of this stuff, and I could buy that third article of clothing for building.

When the half hour timer was done for the first tomato soup, I took it out delicately and, in classic game logic fashion, finished it in three bites.

Fifteen minutes and half my stamina!

I felt all the stress leave me. I could get so much done in fifteen minutes.

With renewed energy and stamina, I went back outside and chopped the rest of the logs into boards, then to firewood, keeping an eye on my stamina as I did so. It was getting toward evening time, but I was still so excited about fifteen whole minutes that I didn’t feel the nerves from before. This was a huge discovery. I wouldn’t feel so trapped inside now on a hot day. Chilled tomato soup would help me get things done.

I placed the last firewood in the chicken coop, and shingles appeared. I took a moment to admire it, but only a moment, before I took out my to-do list and saw completing the chicken coop was crossed off. I let out a breath of relief before I used the last remaining minutes of my timer to drop more stuff into the dumpster.

I rushed back inside before the timer went out, then made my way to the clipboard. I had managed to get 11.23 dopamine points. It was evening time, and I finally bought the third article of clothing for building. It was bright orange overalls with a tool belt. I bought it and put it on, also wearing my hard hat and reflective vest. I waited for the knowledge this third level got me, flipping through some of the pages to figure out if anything had unlocked, when something made me pause. I then glanced out the door to look at the brick making fire, and my mind started whirling. The brickmaker shivered, then something appeared above it.

Upgrade tool?

0/50 bricks

“Ooooh,” I said to myself.

The information wasn’t handed to me or anything, but I had an excellent feeling that this was how I would make glass.