A little over a year ago we attempted to write a story to which everyone contributes, post by post, but eventually the characters were talking in iambic pentameter and it got confusing. Shall we try again?

The rules, from the previous thread, are:

1. Story segments should be no more than 200 words in order to allow others to develop it. (and no double posting.)
2. No real-life comments, only Story related posts.
3. Each segment must end with a statement that will lead into the next. (ie. "and then he . . .")
4. Try to keep the thread in a straight line so we don't have parallel universes of the Story.
And now 5. Prose only.

Let's begin:

It was the nadir of winter and the world was covered in a warm blanket of pure, icy white. In a misty dell far from any civilization, past miles of dusty roads twisting endlessly over rolling hills of lustrous white, there lived, in a small, ramshackle cabin, an old, miserly Gypsy woman.

One evening, while reading her favorite book by the light of small, flickering fire, she heard the faintest of rappings on the door. Glancing around she placed the book on a side table, lowered her spectacles and rose slowly. Hobbling to the door she . . .