Devil's Run

short fiction about snow angels

  

    Nobody knew the name of the first kid who went down that ski slope at dawn.

    Everybody knew who the girl was, though.
    But it was the original boy, the snow-kid, who was the important one to the other kids.

    He was the one who went down part of Devil's Run during off-season, in deep snow, on a toboggan instead of skis. He went down head first, and gained not only the attention of everyone who saw him, particularly the town kids, but also the ski patrol.

    "We've gotta get the crazy kid off that slope," the head of the patrol team said.
    "He's gonna kill himself, the way he's going and how he goes."

    So they tried.

    But they never caught him, not before he made what the head of the team said come true.
    He died on Devil's Run, engulfed by an avalanche, a small one, but still big enough.

    Lots of neighborhood kids saw it happen.
    The boy was on that toboggan and head first when cascading snow caught him.
    So was the girl.

    The girl was Caroline Freeman, a girl who lived up to her name.
    She watched the boy go so fast down Devil's Run at dawn and laugh so much at the bottom, she fell in love with him.

    But they were both too young to recognize love as being in love.
    Caroline just followed the boy like any puppy might follow a food source.

    Wanting to show off and surprise the unknown boy, Caroline followed him onto Devil's Run early one morning, dragging a new toboggan along the shortcut the boy took, then riding it like the boy did, head first, still following him. The other kids didn't think the boy even knew she was there.

    The kids remembered her in her dress, her coat with a fur collar, her black shoes. Caroline, the only one brave and foolish enough to follow the boy up there in the snow. She only did one time, because that's when the avalanche caught them.

    The kids read a newspaper one of them bought about her funeral. It was a huge affair, with many flowers, pictures and even balloons. Caroline Freeman came from a very rich family who never went to that ski resort town again. Their grief was huge, and was felt by every local kid who saw the whole thing happen.

    The patrol team wore black armbands for days after the two kids died. They felt responsible, though they weren't the avalanche and couldn't catch the kids who rode toboggans down a ski run, a black diamond ski run, the most difficult.

    The head of the team said, "We shoulda caught 'em both. We coulda saved 'em. We'll tell the avalanche crew to close that run altogether. It's too dangerous, even if it's popular."

    The owner of the resort felt different about it.

    "Devil's Run will stay open when ski season is going on," he told the patrol team. "It's not my fault, nor is it yours, that nobody saw those kids on the slope until too late. Devil's Run is one of my most popular slopes. It stays open with a lot of you guys to help anyone in trouble. I'll have the avalanche crew check it daily.
   "That's the best I can do. I already wrote the Freemans about it and heard no reply. I doubt we'll ever see them again. And the other kid was just some runaway or something. Nobody knows who he was. It's over now. Thank you for your concern."

    It was the kids who took to memorializing the whole thing at the crack of dawn, and they did it for days after the deaths took place. Two would get on a toboggan and steer it down Devil's Run every day at dawn.

    If the ski patrol didn't catch them first, they would emerge breathless with wonder and excitement. What an experience! How anyone did it alone and how they themselves had survived was a constant source of chatter. The dawn light on the snow, sparkling untouched powder snow, the speed of the run under towering Ponderosa pines, the freezing air; none was ever forgotten by any kid who successfully did it.

    Two kids carved initials into a pine near the bottom of the run: "C.F. + N.K." = Caroline Freeman and "N.K." for "Nobody Knows." Then locals who made the run carved a notch under the initials to show they'd done close to the same thing.

    Eventually, there were many notches in that pine.

    The ski patrol never knew about it. They never saw that pine tree, hidden among others.
    They couldn't even catch all the kids who tobogganed down Devil's Run, chasing the angels of the boy and girl they admired and loved.    

Author's Note

Is this confusing in any way?
Any constructive comment is welcome.
Thank you for reading!

Reviews

[Samuel Dickens]

You'd think the two deaths would deter kids from trying it themselves, but such is the nature of youth. I include myself, for the young me was daring and most likely indestructible. It's a fact that God looks after (mostly) children and fools. You say it's about "snow angels", so did Snow kid and Caroline become guardian angels who protect all those who try it?

[LJ]

Thanks for the comment! I think people should interpret things here exactly the way they'd like... though I also thought of that about the snow angels. And yes, we seem unbreakable at certain ages. Hope you enjoyed the story.