Warning: This excerpt contains a rollover car accident and may be a trigger.

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“Snowman’s Burden”

By Pebbles Lacasse

Teaser

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He tugs the wrist of his leather glove and then shoves his hands in his pockets, hoping to warm them. “They’re saying it’s going to snow for at least five days; it’s going to turn to wetter, heavier snow through the night and then freeze.” He jerks his head toward the heavy metal barricades and shrugs. “Sorry, but I can’t let you pass. You know, avalanches.”

 

“Uh-huh.” My lip tucks between my teeth as I consider turning back. “If I don’t get home, my cat, Tigger, won’t survive. My Jeep’s handling well, so will you let me through? Please. I promise to drive carefully.” My leather-gloved hand presses to my chest and my brows rise beneath my knitted cap.

 

Richard looks down the road to visually assess it and then shakes his head. “I don’t know, Eldora. It’s getting pretty hairy down there.”

 

“I have no doubt.” My hands press together to beg. “But my cat… Please.”

 

His full breath floats through the air in a white cloud and his head tips. “You could get wiped off the mountain, buried in the snow, and not be found until spring. You know that, right?”

 

“I’ll take my chances. If it wipes me out, it’s on me.” My wide hazel eyes plead as my nose begins to hurt from the cold. “What if I promise to call the station as soon as I get home? Will that ease your concern?”

 

“All right.” He reluctantly turns while shaking his head and lifts his legs high to shuffle through the deep snow toward the flashing blockade. As I pass, he adds, “You’d better call. I’ll be waiting. I’d hate to have to come out in this shit to search for an Eldora popsicle.”

 

I laugh. He doesn’t.

 

I say, “I won’t crash, and I won’t get wiped off the mountain. I promise.”

 

He mumbles, “Famous last words.”

 

The lights slowly disappear as I round one of the S-turns on the darkening road. Between the tall trees and thick falling flakes, the late afternoon sun is shrouded. My trust is in my instincts to guide me as I creep along.

 

There aren’t many people living out this far. On uninhabited parts of the mountain, hermits who keep to themselves have set up camp. I’ve only ever run into one of them at the hardware store. The man didn’t smell bad, as I had expected him to, but he was unkempt with a wild beard, crazy hair, and clothing dotted with years of stains. He kept his head down and said nothing to anyone as he quickly made his purchases and left the store.

 

Since I moved to my house six years ago, two wanted men were discovered squatting within two miles of my home. They were arrested on outstanding warrants. I overheard the local waitress gossip that both were murderers. Needless to say, I hope not to run into any strangers when I’m out on one of my wilderness treks.

 

The weather is growing more treacherous. The denseness of the falling snow has darkened the evening sky to an eerie grey, making it even more difficult to see. My wipers are at full speed, and I still can’t see anything. My headlights don’t cut through the swells of snow, leaving only a car length visible in front of me. It’s anyone’s guess how many times I’ve left the road and almost hit trees, and it was a near miss on one of the cement barriers. I strain to hear if my tires are still on the road and not the gravelled shoulder, but with the thickness of snow beneath them, that’s proving difficult.

 

No lights line this long stretch of single-lane highway nicknamed Gayle’s Pass by the locals. Four years ago, Jillian Gayle and her three children disappeared during a severe thunderstorm. Their van went off the road and rolled six times before coming to rest against the trunk of a tree. Everyone died. Despite the endless searches, two months passed before their vehicle was found. That goes to show how dense some sections of the wilderness are. It can easily swallow a car.

 

“Christ, I can’t see a damn thing.” My words cut through the silence haunting my car.

 

Talking to myself usually helps ease my nerves, but not at this tense moment. Should I have been so daring? There’s no place to turn around if it becomes impossible to continue.

 

“Whose stupid idea was this? Oh, right—mine. Tigger would’ve been fine by herself overnight as long as the power doesn’t cut out.” I blink several times and lean closer to the windshield, as if that’s going to help me see better. “Dammit! Please don’t avalanche.”

 

I creep along the road, thankful to bump into the odd barrier strategically placed to keep cars from falling over cliffs. On nights like tonight, they act as a sort of braille.

 

The rails were lined in old tires to add a little protection to fenders, so I’m not worried about receiving too much damage if I bump into one. Besides, my Jeep is old; another ding here or there will go unnoticed.

 

I feel it in the steering wheel before I hear it. Everything’s vibrating, including me. An upsurging rumble has a million thoughts racing through my mind in an instant.

 

“Oh, shit! No, no, no!” There’s a loud thud, and I’m weightless as the car spins, shoving me against the driver’s door. “Shit!”

 

My breath is forced from my lungs. I grip the wheel tighter and close my eyes to prepare for the vicious punch in the face from the airbag, but it never comes.

 

The deafening scream of my car’s destruction sounds more like I’m in the mouth of a beast and he’s chewing the glass and metal. The monster’s roar stabs at my ears. Despite my seatbelt, I’m jarred left to right, up and down, forward and back in slow motion.

 

Will it ever end?

 

Will my death be painful?

 

If it’s my time, let me die quickly. If my fate is to freeze to death trapped in my crushed car, hopefully, I’ll be unconscious the entire time.

 

Peace.

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I’m warm, lying in my bed petting Tigger while I read to her, but there’s no sound to my voice… no sound other than an annoying, deafening ring.

 

Cold. So cold. Pain.

 

Following a gasp, my eyes burst open. How long was I unconscious, and why am I still being bashed around? How far down the mountain is this avalanche taking me? Why hasn’t a tree stopped me?

 

The seatbelt fails and I’m strewn onto the passenger seat chest down. I hang on for my life.

 

Oh, God! Make it stop!

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Crushing metal, a screaming engine, and snapping trees break through the loud ringing in my ears. There are flashes of snow erupting through the broken windows and packing between my body and the roof that used to be high above my head but now threatens to pin me, or worse, crush me. Another hard thud to my chest and my breath rushes from my body. I’m jerked to the left, the right, and back left. I gasp in a painful, shallow breath but the next thud forces it from me.

 

Slam. Pain! Snow in my face.

 

Silence.

 

My mind slips into darkness, and I welcome my death.

 

The fireplace is ablaze, and I’m toasty warm. Tigger’s resting on the pillow she claimed as hers. I glance down at the book in my hands, but there are no words on the pages. What’s ringing so loudly? Where’s the draft coming from? My eyelids are so heavy.

 

I’m not dead, but something tugs my arm. Perhaps it’s a bear or a wolf. There’s horrible pain but I can’t pinpoint its origin. Why can’t I scream?

 

In barely a slit, my left eye opens. A luminous glow surrounds the form of someone hovering over my face. Who is that? An angel? I’ve heard of angels coming to the rescue. Perhaps that’s what’s happening. They look more like a snowman than an angel.

 

My arms and legs don’t feel like my own. When I try to move, pain threatens to steal my sanity. Death can’t possibly hurt this much.

 

“Am I dead?”

 

The snowman’s deep voice cuts through the stillness. “You’re alive.”

I’m lifted and physical agony curses me, stealing my vision and my consciousness.

 

***

 

My eyes open but see nothing. Fabric covers my face, and my ears ache from a blaring engine. My body jolts and everything falls black around me.

 

I’m warm by the fireplace, again. ...

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