Tirra curled up in her warm bed and listened to the rain drumming on the metal roof. She lay for a while listening to the steady noise of the rain and the dripping of water from the eaves of the cabin. She looked across the room in the gloom of first light, then turned over, pulled the quilt around her and dozed off again.

When she woke again, there was more light in the room but the rain continued to fall just as heavily. Tirra turned onto her back and looked across at the window. The grey light showed the dim shapes of dripping gum trees through the falling rain. Tirra sighed and stretched. A small frown crossed her face as she felt the aching muscles in her legs.

Her dog Trixie heard her move and padded over to the bed, her face pushing enquiringly towards Tirra. Smiling at her, Tirra reached an arm out from under the covers and rubbed the dog's head, stroking her snout, ears and neck. Trixie nuzzled into Tirra's hand as she stroked her.

Tirra sighed again, thinking that she ought to get up, but not wanting to. On her face and arm, she could feel the cold damp air in the room, contrasting with the deep warmth within the bed. She continued to stroke Trixie's warm face and the dog closed her eyes with pleasure. After a while, Tirra glanced at her and smiled. She tousled her ears and said,

"You old thing!"

Then, before she could think, she got out of bed, threw on her dressing gown, stepped into shoes and moved to the fireplace. With a few economical movements, she set a small fire and lit it. Moving between the fireplace and the kitchen, she made tea while continuing to feed kindling onto the fire. She shivered as she drank the tea, knowing that it would be a while before the fire gave any heat.

Trixie took up her favourite place near the fire even though there was no warmth here yet. The rain continued to fall heavily. Tirra glanced from the hot yellow heart of the fire out to the cool grey of the rain. Huddled into herself, she cupped her hands around her tea and let the steam wreathe around her face.

She sat in silence for a long while - sipping her tea and watching the fire, occasionally putting more wood on it until it was well established on the bed of embers and the tea was finished. She felt the heat radiating from it and settled back in the armchair.

She thought of some of the things that needed doing but continued to sit in the chair listening to the rain on the roof. A heaviness hung about her. Her thoughts turned to her friends who had been staying with her. She thought of Paul's quiet strength, Lena's quick laugh and the soft vulnerability of baby Ben. She sighed and realised that she was going to miss them more than she had thought.

She brushed back her hair and looked out the window, feeling the tightness in her throat and chest.

"Damn it," she thought. "Damn." She blinked back the tears that came and gave her eyes a quick wipe. Trixie looked up. Tirra took a deep breath and turned. Before she could stop herself, she stood up and rummaged around for some clean clothes. She went into the cold bathroom and set the shower going. Then she undressed quickly and stepped into the hot water. She couldn't help but smile as the hot water poured over her. She turned her face into the stream of water and let it flood over her. Then she quickly soaped herself and washed her hair. She dried and dressed in front of the fire.

It took her only a moment or two to tidy the bathroom and straighten her bed. She felt better now that she had washed and dressed. She looked in the mirror as she dried her hair and smiled a small smile at her reflection.

She stood in the middle of the room, her hands on her hips. From here she could see everything in the one large room of the cabin. She felt her stomach rumble and looked towards the kitchen.

"OK," she thought, "first, the kitchen."