Warm as ice, chapter 1.

Authors note: If you have read the prologue this won't make sense, this is an old version of the first chapter. I wouldn't review this. I will provide a link to the updated one when I'm ready.

I wake in my dinky looking but, gladly, warm room. My arms aching from all the work I have been doing, you would think you would get used to ice picking, but no. I am tempted to lie in but I can't, me, Ophelia and Mother need the ice to pay our tax to mayor Faraday. I force my arms to obey me and they grudgingly do. They complain and grown as they do, but even they know, they have to work. I love my room as I get a perfect view of the town in the morning with its ghostly fog blanket hanging over it and the desolate nothingness to either side of it. I can make out the grey uniformed men and women of the factory workers; the day starts earlier for them. The town needs supplies to breath and survive.

I shake myself out of my daydreams and quickly get dressed into a thick grey coat and trousers stuffed full of Faraday insulation; all the work clothes here were invented by Mayor Faraday himself. I also put on my lucky socks, given to me by Father on my 10th birthday; he said, with them, I would never fall through the ice. And I haven't, his socks have worked well. I tie back my black hair and plop a thick hat on top to protect my head, ears and neck. Finally, I put on my grey boots designed to spread our body weight when manoeuvring on the ice. That or the socks.

I pull open my old but sturdy wooden door to reveal a small landing with 2 rooms at either side of mine; one for my sister and one for my Mother. Neither are up yet as my Mother works in the shops and my Sister is learning to run the shop with Mother. I head down the stairs making the wood squeak on every impact; everything in this town has acquired a old, rustic feel with the exception of the new factories necessary for the survival of the town. The kitchen door is closed, as usual, to prevent Leo, my fish dog, from running amok in the house. I push it open and Leo is sitting in his bed wagging his tail. Unlike me, fish dogs are bred for these conditions and don't get that tired from their trade. Fish dogs are used by ice pickers to catch fish while I am mining and to also catch me if I fall in the water.

I find a synthetic packet of porridge oats and I prepare a pan for my family using some of the ice left over from yesterdays tax. All the food here, due to the cold conditions, is mostly synthetically created or grown underground using a mass of chemicals making it taste bland and fake. When I have finished the bowl my sister comes downstairs with a sleepy expression on her face.

"Morning Joanna" she says accompanied by a little yawn. She is only 10, and looks very vulnerable .

"Hello, nice sleep?"

She shakes her head "Nightmares" in a quieter voice than normal as if remembering them right now.

"Well I'm leaving now for my ice picking; porridge is on the hob for you and Mother; be back later!" I reply.

"Bye Joanna." she calls sleepily.

I grab a bit of bread and march out of the room into the hallway. I call Leo to my side and he eagerly follows. A big metal door sticks out like a sore thumb in this house but it is necessary in keeping the house warm and the outside world cold. I pull the cold metal bar on the door and turn it around; the door gives a click and a rush of cold air rushes in, hitting me physically in the face.

"Don't let the cold in Joanna," Mother says behind me, she has just come down the stairs and is already shivering.

"Bye Mother" and I close the thick metal door behind me as I leave leaving nothing but a desolate quiet to face my ears.

That is, but the cold.

This is Antarctica you know.