You Call That Small?

While Hikaru was outside chopping wood, I rummaged through the tiny kitchen to see what kind of food I could find. For a place that looked like it had been abandoned a long time ago, there was a lot of food still in the cupboard. The dishes were all well maintained and put away in their respective places. Aside from being a little dusty, they weren’t bad. I found a towel and cleaned out the kettle and a large dutch oven. When I was upset, my mind always gravitated to soup.

I was pouring water into the kettle when Hikaru came back in with an armload of freshly chopped wood. He seemed confused, watching me prepare the kettle. “You noticed there’s no stove, right?”