Winter Wonderland

Throughout the night temperatures continued to drop and snow continued to fall. Our little concrete home was not keeping us warm but the bit of boiling water kept us warm enough to survive the night. John was still freezing, his body was still not warming up. We ended up falling asleep hoping that it would be warm enough because we could not keep our eyes open one moment longer. Everything was piled on us to try and keep us warm. We woke up shaking from the cold.

John: T . . . Ty it is so cold.

Ty: I know, what else are we going to do though.

John: Nothing. Ty my legs are still numb and it does not feel right.

Ty: Let me see.

He lifts up his pants, his legs were a pale blue and frozen. This was something I did not know how fix or how to solve it.

Ty: I am not going to lie. That is bad and I don't know how to help. The only thing I could think of was to warm them up.

John: Don't you think they would have warmed up over night?

Ty: I thought you would warm up but I was proved wrong but I am not going to let you die again.

John: Again?

Ty: Remember you died last night and you were somehow brought back to life.

John: No, I did not remember dying and I do believe that would be something I would remember.

Ty: Okay, I think you may have been unconscious. Anyways, what would you like to do today? The snow has stopped falling.

John: Let’s go explore.

Ty: I'm down with that. We should probably eat something first.

This time I got up to cook breakfast because I was unsure of his stability at the moment. We ended up eating eggs on toast which John said tasted pretty good. All of our warm clothing was thrown on before we went out. John stood up and sat back down.

John: My legs are burning.

Ty: I think they might be adjusting.

John: Well, I don't like it.

Ty: Come on, stand up and you might get used to it. I mean I hate to see you in pain but this I do believe will help you.

I pulled him up off the bed to which I grabbed his hands and started to walk him around slowly. He started to get better at moving so I think he was getting used to the feeling or his legs were starting to return to normal.

Ty: See, much better.

John: It is still numb but I am able to push it back.

Ty: Great, we will not go too fast then.

John: Thanks.

He takes my hand and we walk outside into the winter wonderland. Snow is piled high, icicles hang from every possible surface, and there was a cold nip in the air. From what I could see this was beautiful. Deadly but beautiful. It was still freezing out, still below zero but the winds have slowed down. My power was not working on snow this high so we are digging our way through.

Ty: Hey, tell me if you need a break.

John: I will do that. Can we go to the bridge over the pond?

Ty: Yeah, it might take a little while to get over there.

John: Let me help you dig. It might take less time.

Ty: Did you get your strength back? Last night all of the strength was taken out of your body. You were literally frozen.

John: We will never know until we test it.

Ty: Careful.

I moved him next to me and we tried to move the snow. He was not moving any of the snow. I guess that he did lose everything.

Ty: I guess that means that I will lead the way.

John: I guess so, sorry.

Ty: Don't apologized, it's not your fault.

John: I was the one who tripped and fell, letting the snow pile on top of me.

Ty: Still not your fault. We should be getting closer to the bridge.

John: Okay.

I continued to dig through the snow and after 15 minutes we made it to the bridge over the pond. The pond was frozen, nothing could break that ice right now. Icicles hung on all the branches of the bare trees in the woods.

John: It's so pretty.

Ty: I agree, can we ice skate?

John: Sure, please be careful.

Ty: Take my hand, I will lead the way.

John: My turn to lead the way.

Ty: Okay, give me your hand.

He giggled and ran onto the ice. He was sliding all over the place and taking me with him. We both had a huge smile on our faces as we were sliding back and forth on this frozen lake. John was the first on to fall and when he fell, he pulled me with him. We both landed on the frozen water with a laugh.

John: Oops.

Ty: I knew we would fall at some point.

John: Me too, I just did not know when. You alright?

Ty: Yeah, I think just a few bruises. You alright?

John: Same, just a few bruises. Can we take a break?

Ty: Let's sit on the bridge so we don't get too cold.

I help him up and take him to the bridge. We sit and look over the pond which was now marked with our footprints. I could tell John was not feeling great because of little things like his facial expressions or the way he talked. I just ignored it though.

John: What are we doing next?

Ty: Let’s take a stroll around.

John: Sounds nice.

We do sit there for a bit longer and then we get up to head back for a stroll.

Ty: Let’s go get some gas at the gas station for the bus.

John: Will someone see us?

Ty: Probably not.

John: Fine with me.

Ty: Let’s grab the container and head over. When we are done, we can explore a bit more.

We walk over, grab the red can, and walk toward the edge of the woods. The snow storm knocked down some trees and massive branches. It looked almost impossible to get past the debris but I started to climb. John was following behind but very slowly.

Ty: Come on, slowpoke.

John: Trying.

Ty: Take my hand and I will take you faster.

John: I don't think I can. My legs are burning.

Ty: Then, we can walk slowly together.

I take his hand and we carefully step over the fallen debris. It did take us about thirty minutes about double what it normally takes us. John has a worried look as cars drove by. We had not left the junkyard, except for the little store, since we ran. More missing posters were taped everywhere and flapping in the cool wind.

John: Someone is bound to notice us. I don't want to go back.

Ty: We will never go back and if someone notices us, we run.

John: Okay.

He takes my hand and we cross the busy road to the empty gas station. Since we don't have a card we have to give the employee the money so he can hook us up to a gas pump. We paid for two gallons and bought another red container to hold the other gallon.

Ty: See easy as that.

John: I guess.

Just then a crazed woman that we barely recognized started screaming. His mother.

Woman: Hey you! Someone help me.

We had to stay for our gas.

Ty: Take my hand, we have to wait.

John: Why?

Ty: Trust me, take my hand.

He listens and takes my hand. The woman stops screaming and looks around. She does not see us anymore. It looks like there is a clear bubble over us.

John: How?

Ty: I think you can guess.

John: She cannot see us.

Ty: Correct.

John: She cannot here us.

Ty: Correct. Your voice is trembling, you’re scared.

John: I know, it’s a habit. It is just very strange for anything like this to happen.

Ty: Let's head back, can you carry one of these? I know you are not strong but one of my hands has to be connected to yours in order for us both to be hidden.

John: I will do my best.

John tries to lift it up but at first he was unsuccessful. Eventually, he got it and we walked back to the bus. Our hands were linked together to hide our presence.