The food on the dining table was getting cold. Evelyn Ford took out her pocket watch and glanced at the time—it was midnight.
Lola and Red Bird flew in from outside. They had attracted many of the island’s other birds to the area just outside the cabin.
Evelyn staggered to her feet, took out a handful of crushed rice, and scattered it evenly on the windowsill.
When the birds outside saw the rice, they all flew over to snatch it up. The chirping and twittering woke up a drowsy Zoe.
She came over to Evelyn’s side, staring curiously at the birds outside.
"Auntie, they’re saying there’s good food here and they want to stay and freeload."
Evelyn smiled. "Then tell them I can give them lots of good food, but they’ll have to work for me."
"What does ’work for you’ mean?"
"It means they have to listen to me and help me gather information. Otherwise, no food."
Zoe’s little face turned serious as she relayed Evelyn’s words to the birds outside.
"Auntie, they agree."
’Even birds know how to be pragmatic these days.’
Evelyn had Zoe help her translate and asked several questions: how many villages were nearby, how many people lived in them, whether any other natural disasters had occurred here, if there were bandits within a hundred-li radius, and if there were any refugees...
Getting her answers put Evelyn in a good mood, and she grabbed another two handfuls of crushed rice to scatter on the windowsill.
Ronan Kendrick seemed a little drunk. Evelyn walked up to him and waved her hand in front of his face.
"It’s getting late. Let’s go back to our room."
Miles Vaughn and Quincy were completely drunk and already talking nonsense.
Evelyn pulled Ronan to his feet, intending to take him back to the bedroom.
The two had just left the dining area when Ronan stopped in his tracks.
"What’s wrong?"
"There’s something outside."
Evelyn immediately became alert. She drew her pistol and quickly went to the door, but there was nothing outside.
"Was it just the birds chirping?"
Ronan shook his head. He gazed at the oppressive, dark sky. A few seconds later, a green fluorescent light suddenly appeared. In just a moment, it had spread to cover the entire sky.
"It’s the aurora." The aurora, a brilliant mix of green and purple, danced like a gale-force wind. Crystalline motes of light twinkled within its glow.
Evelyn hadn’t expected to see the rare aurora here in Frelia. She shouted for the others to come out and look.
"Ronan, make a wish! It’s sure to come true."
Ronan didn’t mock her for being childish. Instead, he closed his eyes and earnestly made a wish.
The others came out too. Everyone stood on the veranda, looking up at the fluorescent sky.
"Whoa, it really is the aurora! They say if you see the aurora, you’re guaranteed to have good luck." Wyatt Vaughn quickly closed his eyes, pressed his palms together, and began to make a wish.
Evelyn took out her phone and snapped a few pictures of the aurora.
In her heart, she silently made a wish.
’I hope the disasters finally end. It’s been ten years. It’s time for them to be over.’
"Wyatt, what did you wish for?" Quincy asked curiously.
"I wished for the sun to come out tomorrow."
Quincy burst out laughing. "That wish of yours... it’s simple and unadorned, but it’ll be hard to fulfill."
"Wendy, what about your wish?"
Wendy looked troubled. "I wished to grow ten centimeters taller."
Wendy was already 1.6 meters tall. Officer Graham was 1.8 meters, and Evelyn remembered that Mrs. Graham wasn’t short either. Wendy could probably still have a growth spurt.
The aurora didn’t disappear until three in the morning. Back in the bedroom, Evelyn looked at Ronan curiously.
"Ronan, what did you wish for just now?"
"For the extreme cold to end as soon as possible."
Evelyn closed her eyes and pretended to do a finger calculation. "My calculations tell me the extreme cold will end very soon. Your wish will definitely come true."
Ronan smiled and added some more wood to the fireplace.
"What’s the temperature now?"
"Nine degrees below zero. Not that cold."
Evelyn started setting up the bedroom. She placed a potted cactus in front of the window, hung up the curtains, and then took out a storage battery and a power strip. After hanging an LED light strip on the wall, the room instantly became twice as bright.
"Perfect. I still have some emergency lights and voice-activated lights in my storage space. We can put them on the veranda and in the cabin’s hallway later."
Evelyn took out a scented candle, placed it on the table next to the fireplace, and lit it. A faint fragrance instantly filled the room.
"Alright, time for bed."
Everyone fell asleep filled with the joy of settling into their new home. No one knew that in the quiet of the night, another natural disaster had already descended.
When Evelyn woke up, Ronan was still fast asleep beside her. She grabbed her phone from the nightstand and glanced at it—it was nine in the morning.
She quietly got out of bed and went to the window. However, when she pulled open the curtains and saw the pitch-black night outside, Evelyn froze for a few seconds.
’Is my phone broken?’
Evelyn took out her pocket watch. The time was indeed 10 AM. But why wasn’t it light out yet? ’Did the black fog appear again?’
Evelyn put on her overcoat, grabbed a flashlight, and walked out of the room. The hallway was silent. The emergency lights hadn’t been installed yet, so it was pitch-black.
The wolf-dog and Mina saw her come out and bounded over, wagging their tails. Evelyn ruffled their fur and warned in a low voice, "Shh, be quiet. Everyone else is still sleeping."
Evelyn walked to the main door of the cabin, turned the small lock, and pushed the door open to go outside.
It was pitch-black outside, without a single glimmer of light. The stars and moon were nowhere to be seen, yet it wasn’t like when the black fog rolled in. During the black fog, you could still see some light.
’Could both my pocket watch and my phone be broken?’
Evelyn yawned, closed the door, and went back to the bedroom. ’Looks like the phone is the problem. I’ll just go back to sleep. The sun will be up when I wake.’
Just as she lay back down in bed, an arm reached out and pulled Evelyn into an embrace.
"What time is it?" Ronan’s voice was a little hoarse.
"My phone and pocket watch are both broken, so I can’t tell the time. Let’s just sleep a little longer."
Evelyn didn’t think much of it and closed her eyes, planning to go back to sleep.
An unknown amount of time passed before Evelyn was woken by the frantic barking of the wolf-dog. Vaguely, she could hear Ronan and Officer Graham talking. She reached out a hand to the side—Ronan had indeed gotten up.
Evelyn rubbed her eyes, turned on the light, and got out of bed with a stretch.
Just then, the bedroom door opened and Ronan walked in. His brow was tightly furrowed, and Evelyn’s heart skipped a beat.
"What happened?"
Ronan looked at her and reached out to stroke her hair. "It’s still dark outside."
"Still dark?"
Ronan nodded. "Yes. I’m sure it’s still nighttime, and there’s no black fog."
A thought struck Evelyn. She threw on her overcoat and walked out of the bedroom. At the cabin’s entrance, Officer Graham, Ethan Dawson, and Quincy were all standing there.
"Evelyn, check the time. What time is it now? The phone you gave me says it’s eleven-thirty."
"There’s nothing wrong with the time. The problem is with the sun."
"The sun didn’t rise today. I got up at nine o’clock and saw it wasn’t light out. I thought the time was wrong, so I didn’t think much of it and just went back to sleep."
"Then what’s going on? It’s almost one o’clock, why isn’t the sun out yet?"