Eira decided to go home in hopes of seeing her mom or sister or anyone who could tell her what was going on. She didn't know how long she was in the diner for. She hadn't heard the voice of a person or even a dog barking or a bird chirping. Whatever was blocking the front door was slowly faltering off. The snow was slowly creeping in through the tiny cracks in the windows. Eira desperately wanted to leave this place but she couldn't. She could barely stand up on her own, she didn't expect herself to wade through snow on all fours.

She decided to stay in the diner and workout so that she could walk home. She also wanted to thank the person who saved her. So, she decided to train herself to walk and while she did that she would wait for them. Besides there was a lot of food in the kitchen.

...

Eira had worked really hard to get the chair from the dining area to the kitchen phone. She had found a switch while searching for some snacks to think over how she was going to go about things from now. She turned it on out of curiosity. It turned on the electricity for the kitchen. She could finally drink water instead of melting ice cubes in her mouth. She figured that the phone should be working too. Although every muscle in her body hurt, while she pushed the chair, she was too stubborn to give up. Moreover, why hesitate when you could be getting help.

She reached for the phone, slowly. She picked up the handset and put it against her ear to check if it was working. She heard a dull beep waiting for her to dial. She put it back. She hoped she wasn't so eager she was imagining it. She picked it up again and listened again. She was sure the phone was working. She dialed. 9-1-1. She breathed in as she waited for a click. She hoped so much that the emergency services were still working. She awaited eagerly for a hello from a nice lady. She hoped that as soon as she heard it the world would go back to what it was supposed to look like and all this was just a dream.

She heard a click, followed by a rather lazy and bored “Hello”. It was a man who didn't sound very cheerful but that was okay. As long as she could get help.

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“Hello?” the voice repeated. “If ya ain’t gonna say summ I'm just gonna think this is spam and block ya.”

“H- hello… I-”, she started.

"Alright, I don't like wastin' time, so what da ya wanna do? Work for Akar? The system? Or what? Oh but first, ya do live in this town right?"

" I don't understand… This is 911 right? What system, what Akar?"

"Ya don't know who Akar is? Hey! Is this some kinda prank? We've bee getting too many of these prank calls. *Sigh*. Look, I understand if ya feel wronged by the system or summ… I had my family taken away by this damned winter too ya know. Now, Imma give ya an assignment in the most powerful department in the system. Whaddaya say, huh?"

" Look, mister, I really don't know what you're talking about. I just want to go home. I don't know and I don't care who Akar is or what this system or department or whatever you're talking about. There is knee deep snow wherever I look outside. I don't know what happened to me, I can barely stand. Can you ask someone, maybe a cop to pick me up and take me home, please... I just want to see my mom..." she sobbed while hoping this was all just a bad dream.

"Ya know what kid, it was my mistake to give ya an offer. Ya think just cause I showed some sympathy on ya, ya could con me into giving ya something more? Not happening today kid, not today. I'm taking back my offer and also I'm blacklisting ya so ya don't pester us again. This job’s already tirin' as it is. What’s your name kid? Cryin’ ain’t getting ya off of this one."

Eira didn’t answer. She just sat there quietly as still as a statue with tears running down her cheek.

“Hey kid you answerin’ any time soon?”

Silence.

“Kid! Jesu-”

Beep-beep-beep… the phone call had ended but Eira hadn't put the handset down. "Please dial the number to call", the automated message rang. Eira was brought back to reality. She put the handset back in place. She was left alone with the sound of the wind battering against the glass panes.