Clever Magazine, Fall '08 " Snowbound, Day 5 " (www.clevermag.com)

Wanna read the latest from Clever Magazine?
Click here and return to the coverpage!

Snowbound: Day Five

by Dianne Kochenburg

Sidney burrowed into her comforter and curled up to maximize the small pool of warmth in her bed. It was tucked under the sloping wall of the A-frame close to the deck side of the cottage. She could reach up and easily touch the knotty pine boards that enclosed them in their cocoon. That’s what their cottage felt like, a nest in the forest, frosted with snow. Why should she get up this morning? It would feel good to just lie here a few minutes longer. Toast was under the covers with her and she protested when Sidney moved. Neither one of them wanted to get up. How many days had it been now? It was all beginning to blur together.

She thought about the day ahead of her. There was plenty to do. As usual, there were meals to fix and dishes to wash, tidy up the room, make the bed, sweep the floor. Mundane things. But doing them made it feel like everything was under control, just another day at the lake. Coffee to make. Then she remembered, the coffee was nearly gone. They’d have to start drinking the powdered Nescafe soon. Not such a bad thing.

She wished she could open the front door and pick up the newspaper. She’d love to answer the telephone, have lunch with her friends, do some shopping, go to the bookstore, buy herself a book. She’d finished reading her paperback last night.

Matt was still sleeping. She tossed off the covers, put on her slippers and robe and tiptoed to the kitchen. Coffee dripping, she decided to run a nice warm bath and sink into it for awhile. Why not?

Her face in the mirror. She was beginning to look more like her mom. Ouch. Her green eyes had dark circles under them. The fine lines at the edges, those little crow's feet, seemed more pronounced. Her hair needed washing. Her finger nails were broken and ragged from hauling wood. Straight brown hair, cut in a bob, longer in the front, short in the back, her style. A rinse to cover the gray hair that sprang up by her ears. She occasionally got a manicure and pedicure when she and Beth went into town. They’d have a girls’ day. There was a dress shop in Quincy. They’d glance through the racks and maybe choose something to buy. No manicure for her today.

Sidney was no fashion plate but she liked having something new to wear occasionally. She tried to keep her weight down, but over the years she had picked up a few pounds. But at five feet, six inches, when she remembered to stand up straight and suck in her tummy, she could hide them fairly well. She could still fit into her jeans. She loved t-shirts layered with a sweater or a jean jacket. Pullovers with faded denim and her Keds, that was her summer uniform. A long soak might do wonders for her.

Matt opened his eyes slowly. He heard water running, Sidney filling the bath tub. He too had been dreaming that he was home, getting ready for work. He was trying to leave the house but he'd forgotten something but couldn’t remember what it was, or the door wouldn't open, or the car wouldn't start.

The cat jumped up and flopped against him, purring and kneading her paws on the blanket. He tried to go back to sleep but couldn’t, the faint homey sounds Sidney made intruded. Clothes tumbling in the dryer, dishes rattling in the sink, Sidney's footsteps as she puttered in the kitchen, and now the water running.

He didn't want to move. His knee was stiff when he first got up and by evening his both his knee and his ankle felt swollen and sort of numb. But after he got up and dressed, he could get around, at least for part of the day.

His shoulder was still sore too, when he moved a certain way. He helped Sidney by stacking wood beside the fireplace. She’d hand it up to him and he’d take it to the fireplace. They had a big pile but they hadn’t started a fire yet. The big room was cool but not uncomfortable. He felt that too.

He pushed the bedding aside and the cat jumped down. He stood up, carefully dodging the coffee table. Today was going to be different, he told himself. Today he was going to figure out how to get them out of here.

"Good morning," Sidney said, glancing over at him from the pool of light in the kitchen. He couldn't decide if she was still pissed off at him from last night. She'd been seriously tweaked most of the evening. He had finished off the rum, since there had been no brandy left. She didn't want to have a drink and watch TV with him. He pleaded with her. She wanted to read. The TV seemed so amusing to Matt. Sidney wasn't laughing. Finally she went over to the daybed in the corner and picked up her Walkman. She tuned him out completely, and hid from him with a book propped in front of her nose.

"Morning. What's for breakfast?" he said. He gave her what he thought was his most engaging smile.

"Well, the coffee's on. You want a cup? And there's biscuits."

He looked at her and nodded. "I guess so." She pulled a small plate of biscuits from the oven warmer. Bisquick was easy. She’d made them with powdered milk. Add water, stir and bake. They tasted good with jam.

"I’ve got an idea. Let's dig out the car and hit the road today," Matt said as they at the kitchen table finishing up. She stared at him.

"Well, sure, why not? Let's just pack up and get out of here. I'm sure as hell ready. Why didn't we think of that earlier?" She tried to keep the sarcasm out of her voice.

Matt ignored her tone. "I need to take another look at the jeep."

Dressed in his jeans, parka, sneakers, gloves, cap and gloves, Matt felt a rush of dread as he slowly eased his way toward the disabled vehicle. The snow was beginning to pack down and it squeaked when they walked through it. The snow was over the top of his shoes and he could feel it inching into his socks. It had drifted and settled over everything. Tree branches sagged with it. Mounds formed where Sidney had pushed it off the steps and porch. He could just make out the jeep that lay buried at the foot of the driveway in the now hidden firepit.

It was a bright crisp morning with little wind and no fresh snow falling. There were even a few blue jays hopping on branches and scolding them as the sun came out and warmed the area. This was a good sign. Maybe it would start to melt soon.

“I’ve got the shovel,” Sidney said. She’d been following Matt.

He nodded. She scooped up a shovelful and threw it as far from the jeep as she could. It landed with a thud. Sidney worked on the hood and the front windshield. When she got it cleared, she looked up. Matt was working at the rear, trying to get the snow out from under the back end.

"You think we could drive the jeep all the way to the road? Snow’s pretty deep.”

He looked up, surveying the road above them, as if for the first time. They had uncovered a good deal of the jeep but in doing so they had created a bigger pile all around it.

“I don’t know. We’ll need chains. Let’s see if we can start it, get it out of the pit. Then figure out what’s next.”

He considered the problem a moment longer. The snow was just too deep to drive through, probably too deep even for chains. If they could get it out, maybe they could drive it under the deck. It wouldn’t get buried again. Then he could take a better look at it.

Matt cracked open the door and crawled into the front seat. He turned the key and tried to start the car. Too cold…the engine didn’t want to turn over. He tried it several times before it finally sprang to life. He sat and coaxed the engine into running and let it run until it warmed up the cab a little. Sid stood beside him shivering and clapping her hands together.

“Okay, Sid,” Matt, said, “this is it. I’m going to put her in gear and see if she’ll climb over these rocks. So stand back and keep fingers crossed.” He moved the gear shift from neutral into drive. Immediately they heard a crunching, grinding sound. “Shit!” Matt yelled, “I should have known. Damn it to hell.” He switched the gear shift back to neutral and turned off the engine.

“Sorry, kiddo. I think it’s the transmission. We won’t be driving outta here in this baby. I'm afraid it's a job for the towing service. Too bad we can’t get triple A out here this afternoon.”

“Soooo, what do we do now?” Sid asked.

“I don’t know. Let’s go back inside. It’s too cold out here to think. Why don’t we get some coffee and listen to the weather reports. Find out when things are going to warm up. What’s the date, anyhow?”

“The date? I don’t know. How long have we been here now?”

They checked the car one more time to see if there was anything left in it that they might need, and then Matt slammed the driver’s side door shut. He leaned against it until he heard the lock click. They picked their way through the new mounds of snow and into the shed beneath the cottage.

Matt moved some snow away from the door and secured the latch while Sidney turned on the lights and looked around. She found a big pile of the huge pinecones over in the far corner that she had gathered up during the summer. She’d been planning on making Christmas decorations out of them. Now she was thinking that they would make good kindling when they lit a fire.

Maybe that’s what they should do today. Build a little fire, make some cocoa and pretend this was a winter retreat, their long planned winter vacation, snowed in at the cottage for a few days. People dreamed of getting away like this. Make the best of it until the snow melted off. Even if it took a week to melt, once it did, they could just put on their hiking boots, bundle up and walk out. Twenty-five miles isn’t so long, runners did that in a couple of hours. They could probably walk into town in a day, if the weather was decent. In another week or so Matt’s leg would be better. They’d take turns carrying the cat, pack up some lunch, and a couple bottles of water. They’d laugh the whole way down and walk into the 7-11 with a great story for the local paper.

Go to: Day 6