Yes, you are.

"Okay," I said as I set my candle down on the floor.

Neala leaned against the hallway wall and snarled as I walked by her, "Don't just say okay to appease me."

I grinned as I entered my living room. "Okay."

"Darcy!" Neala shouted in annoyance.

God, it was so easy to wind her up.

"I'm only messing with you, Neala," I said, hoping she would hear truth in my voice.

There was, of course, no truth because she was a chatter box - she never stopped talking. Everyone in our village could vouch for me when I say that.

"I don't believe you... What are you doing?"

I sighed as I picked up the lit candles. "Bringing these out to the hall so it will make things easier to see when I dig us out of here."

"When we dig us out of here you mean."

Yeah, right.

"Yep, I meant we."

Neala grunted, "You're such a bad liar, Darcy."

I smiled to myself as I walked by her and headed back out into the hall.

"Could you grab a few other candles from the living room for me? I'll get the spoons and forks."

Neala muttered what I could only guess were rude curse words to herself, but she did as asked and went into the living room to gather more candles. I headed into the kitchen and got some spoons and forks from the kitchen drawers. I looked around for something bigger that would make digging easier, but I found nothing. I regretted not letting my mother buy me a bunch of kitchen shite when I first moved in here, anything would help us right now.

I sighed to myself then walked over to Einstein's cage when she squawked. I opened up the cage door and let her up onto the top of her cage so she could stretch her wings and have a bit of a walk around. She loved her cage, but she loved walking around her cage top even more.

"Shut up, Neala!" Einstein shouted.

I smiled at Einstein just as Neala venomously shouted, "I hate that bloody bird!"

I snickered and rubbed Einstein's head. "Good girl," I whispered lovingly.

I left the kitchen armed with my digging tools and headed back to my front door... that was filled in with snow.

"It's weird how the snow hasn't caved into the hallway, the door has been open a few times and nothing has happened," Neala said as I came up beside her and stared at the doorway filled with snow.

"It hardened while the door was closed, not exactly to ice, but enough for it not to cave in when some space became available."

Neala swallowed. "I can't believe this is happening, we never get this much snow."

I looked to her and raised my eyebrows. "I'll agree that we never usually get this much snow, but for weeks we have been warned that this winter was to be our worst in over fifty years. Why do you think I, and everyone else, stacked up on tinned food and bottled water in case of a blackout or if the roads weren't safe enough for driving?"

Neala shrugged her shoulders. "I've heard the warnings, but the weather people usually get things wrong for us. They forecast clear skies and sunshine and instead we get cloudy skies and heavy rain. The odds were just in their favour this time since they turned out to be right."

I shook my head. "Well, it's done now, and it's caused us to be stuck in here so let's change that. You stand back and I'll get to work on digging us out."

I stepped forward only to be jolted back by small hand that encircled my forearm. "Don't treat me like some unable little woman, Darcy."

"You're an unstable- Ow!" I yelped when Neala grabbed hold of my earlobe and twisted.

"Finish that sentence. I dare you." She twisted harder.

I cried out, "I'm messing, I swear!"

Neala smirked at me and let go of my ear so I quickly placed my fingers over my earlobe and rubbed the pain away. The throbbing remained when I removed my hand, but the initial stinging pain went away.

Thank God.

I focused on Neala and glared as hard as I could at her.

"Do that again, and I'll have no mercy as I tickle the life out of you."

Neala blinked her eyes at me, and for a moment she looked shocked... that was until she laughed.

"Wow!" she cackled. "For a second there you looked serious."

I didn't move a muscle in my face.

"I am serious."

Neala stopped laughing and stared at me, unblinking.

"Oh. Well, okay then. I won't touch you ever again."

Excellent.

"Good, now stand back and let me start digging a tunnel. I'm not blowing you off on this, you can help. We will just take shifts... Okay?"

I went into my room and put on a few layers of clothes to warm me up and help keep the cold from the snow out. When I was dressed, I went back out to the hallway and handed Neala some spoons and forks. I kept two spoons for myself, just to help raking through the snow a little easier. I gave Neala a curt nod, but she wouldn't look at me so it went unnoticed. I sighed and turned to the doorway of snow and narrowed my eyes.

I had this.

I got down on my knees and started to scrap the outline of a large circle. Once it was outlined I started to scoop out spoonful's of snow and piled them by my side. Ten minutes of this and I barely made a dent into forming an actual tunnel and an impatient Neala started to huff behind me.

"You're taking forever."

I halted my digging.

"I don't need your pressure right now, Neala."

With that said I began working on the tunnel again, and Neala went back to being silent. Only for an hour or so because she complained about feeling cold so she got her blanket from the storage room as wrapped it around herself. After she wasn't as nippy, she went into my living and kept herself busy with something. I didn't ask what she was up to or go and check on her because I revelled in the silence. It didn't last long though, when she was bored she decided to come back out to the hall and open up her mouth again.

"It's my turn. I've nothing to do and making sure the candles don't blow out is stupid."

My God, woman!

I had a decent tunnel in the making and she still had to complain.

The tunnel was a little bit wider than my body, I matched the length to the width so when we got out of here it would be a smooth crawl for both of us. Neala didn't appreciate that my taking the extra time to widen the tunnel was for her benefit as well as mine.

Ungrateful witch.

"Keeping the candles lit is an important job!" I shouted so she could hear me.

She kicked my leg. "Then you bloody do it."

I was fuming mad, so much for her never hitting me again. She couldn't just let me finish the damn tunnel so we both could get out of here and away from one another.

"Fine!" I snapped and began to wriggle my body to back my way out of the tunnel.

My shoulders hit off the sides of the tunnel with each inch I moved backward. I halted my movement when a noise from above me sounded. Just as I turned my head to the side to look up and see what was happening, snow caved in around me.

The cold of the snow stabbed me like needles, but what was worst was it weighed me down and pressed me to the floor of the tunnel. I tried to move, but I couldn't. I tried to take deep breaths to calm myself down, but breathing became difficult with the snow surrounding me.

Fuck.

This wasn't good.