In Search of Home

Chapter 20

The rest of the day passed much like the first evening: slow and boring. Viktor missed having conversations. He missed having things to do. He had never been artistically inclined on Earth, but he thought that he'd be able to become the next Picasso if he had a pen and paper right about now. 

When he woke up the next day, he was determined to not die of boredom. Which meant expanding his new territory. So far, he had only really stuck to the office and the living room. Peeking in the bathroom and Vok'Rul's bedroom had been the most adventure he had taken yesterday. Viktor was tired of being indoors. 

He wanted to go outside. 

He knew, though, that he probably wasn't the best dressed for an outdoor excursion in this cold weather. He'd probably get frostbite going out in what he had now. He didn't even have shoes! So, he put that idea on hold. Besides, he was stuck in a mansion; there were bound to be cooler things in here than outside. At least, that's what he told himself to feel better. 

As luck would have it, Vok'Rul had to do whatever it is that he did during the day instead of lounging around Viktor to try and make him more comfortable around the alien. As if. 

Vok'Rul had peeked into the office, filled up his dishes with food and water, said what Viktor figured was probably the greeting rohsh, and went downstairs. Viktor hadn't heard anything coming from downstairs for a while, so he figured that Vok'Rul had left to do his job. The alien seemed to be a politician of sorts, but Viktor didn't really know what politicians did during the day, even back on Earth. They hadn't interested him too much. 

Even alien politics was pushing it, even if he did understand their language. He would probably cry from boredom. 

After making sure Vok'Rul had really gone, Viktor shoved some food into his pockets and made his way over to the stairwell. The steps were huge, but Viktor managed to get down it all right. He had only slipped and fallen once, but he managed to catch himself. It was probably gonna leave a massive bruise on his elbow, though. It didn't help that the spiral staircase was extremely tightly wound, making all the steps steep. Seriously,  who designed this place? What a death trap. 

He made it to the kitchen, thankfully still alive. He peered up at what seemed to be the fridge. There was a circular disk, quite like the TV but a bit smaller, on the fridge, way above where he could reach. He felt like he was five years old again, trying to reach things that he couldn't quite get. He managed to pry the door to the refrigerator open, peering inside. Instead of the regular shelving seen on Earth, this fridge seemed to have a rotating middle shelf, kind of like a Ferris wheel. It also blasted frigid air into Viktor's face when he opened it. 

"Sheesh," he shuddered, standing on his tiptoes to start rotating the shelf. After a while of spinning, Viktor decided it wasn't worth freezing to death over potentially getting a piece of fruit. For all he knew, these aliens were strictly carnivores, anyway. This thing would not stop spinning. It seemed infinite. He thought that if he spun it for days, he wouldn't find the same item twice. "So much for grabbing any fruit." 

He wondered how these aliens even managed to find anything to cook with. Maybe that small TV on the door had something to do with it. Shutting the door, Viktor moved on out of the kitchen. He could admit defeat once in a while.

The dining room was much bigger than the one upstairs, but it had quite a bit of empty space. Viktor crouched down to feel the carpet, marveling at its softness. Viktor hadn't gotten the chance to feel it when he had been in this room the first time, considering he had been in a cage and all that. He could probably sleep on this thing pretty comfortably. The bed Vok'Rul had given him was still pretty cool, though.