Elliot startled a wake with a snort, sending his book crashing to the floor, his page hopelessly lost. He blinked back the lingering touches of the unexpected nap, his gaze turning to the dying embers of the fire. How foolish of him, falling asleep like that, he could have burnt down the whole place. Shaking his head, he got untangled from the fleece blanket and made his way over to stoke the embers. He’d have to start from scratch; it appeared, as not even so much as a single flame sparked back to life.
With some trepidation, he padded across the carpeted floor to the nearest window to have a glance outside. The world was disappearing beneath a blanket of white. It was now late afternoon, the sun somewhere low in the sky behind the thick clouds, prompting him to flip on the outside light
