On Our Own, A Fragment of a Longer Tale

On Our Own

The snow fell thickly all day. Just before the last of the light faded away, we found the whole of our property incased in snow and the walkway almost invisible for it. So we gathered all around the hearth and lit a large fire, the light from which fell only halfway across the room, leaving the farther end completely in darkness. No light shown through the frost covered windows, it seemed as though the whole of the world had disappeared into winters cruel darkness. We took turns minding the fire, with the agreement that every time one of us awoke that person would tend to it. By the time the sun appeared in the window the fire was out, leaving us in a sea of cold with only a fine white pile of ash for company. Crosby was furious about it and I could not blame him. Without a fire, our prospects seemed grim at best.

            After a while, Leigh and I thought it would be best to go out and try to get some more firewood. Crosby didn’t see a problem with it so we went. Leigh seems to like spending time alone with me, away from Crosby. When we are alone, he can be seen running ahead of me through the snow. Aren’t you coming? He said waving his arms and grinning foolishly. I smiled at him and followed. It was peaceful out in the woods with Leigh, the air smelled of pine needles and wood smoke. Once, I lost sight of him behind some trees. The next thing I knew, my face was covered in snow. Clearing my eyes, I saw Leigh practically beside himself with laughter. I shot him a wicked smirk and chased after him. He ran ahead of me until we came to a break in the trees, there he stopped and turned around. When our eyes met, I stopped; we smiled sweetly, and walked on together toward the place we both knew we could find plenty of firewood. The rest of the trip was relatively uneventful. When we arrived back, our arms laden with firewood, Crosby and Meri came running out to help us. As they ran off Leigh and I smiled, it was good that Crosby cooled down, though without the means to start a fire, this was not a difficult task.

            Having gone for wood, Leigh and I were considered relatively exempt from the rest of the day’s activities, which by now had grown rather monotonous to say the least. However, we found it proper to join in when we saw fit, as every extra hand was needed to ensure our comfort and survival in this harsh place. As Leigh and I sat around the newly reincarnated fire, the sound of Crosby shouting came to us. Looking up, I saw Meri running, with Crosby fast in pursuit, brandishing a large ice covered branch. You b*****d you b*****d, I could hear him on the wind. As he approached Meri, he lashed out with the branch, cutting Meri across the face as he fell into the deep snow. Crosby started slamming his boot into Meri’s stomach. Leigh and I where on him like flies on s**t, pulling the still screaming Crosby off of Meri. I’ve had enough of this, Crosby spat, that poor son of a b***h nearly killed me. It was an accident I swear, said Meri wringing his hands and gulping down the frozen air, the blood beginning to freeze on his face. I’ve had enough of this s**t, Crosby shouting, storming off into the nearest clump of trees, screw all of you.

            He didn’t return that night. Leigh spent the evening addressing and dressing Meri’s wounds while I went into the woods to look for Crosby. I traversed the same trail Leigh and I took that morning, following the third set of foot prints in the snow. Crosby must have been running, seeing as the foot prints where well spaced and they continued on well past the point where Leigh and I stopped for wood. When I finally found him, his lips where blue from the cold, his hands like claws, ice in his beard, and no sign of a soul in his dark eyes. He appeared to have tripped over something in the snow, fell onto his face, rolled over, blacked out, and froze to death. I could see a trickle of frozen blood under his left nostril. I didn’t bother trying to bring his body back to the rest of our party, but I told them the story later. No one slept well that night. Leigh slept next to me, in the glow from the hearth I could see him give me a weak smile, I smiled back.

            The next day I spent very much in introspection. I went alone to get more firewood, while Leigh tended to Meri. I walked slowly, really taking in the images that passed before me. It was really quite beautiful out here, the snow on the fur trees, the soft sounds of the not yet frozen stream falling over ice cold rocks, the smell from the fire back at the house, the pine needles, how the sun reflected off the snow. It’s hard to believe that anyone could die out here. But then, as I walked on without thinking where I was going, I can across the frozen corps of Crosby. The sight shocked me so. I hadn’t known where I was going. I could see now in the light that what I originally thought was a trickle of blood under Crosby’s nose was; in actuality, only a small portion of blood covered face. I feel to the snow before him and wept. Crosby wasn’t always the nicest but seeing him like this was just too much. I stayed until the cold forced me to my feet. When I returned, Leigh rushed up to me, grinning foolishly. When he saw I was distressed, he came to me. What’s the matter? He inquired of me. I didn’t bother telling him, I just give him some of the logs I was carrying and we brought them inside.

            That evening we went for a walk. It was very peaceful in the woods at sunset. I asked about Meri, Leigh explained that he would be fine, the cut was not very deep and that in a few days it would be healed up. He asked if I was ok, but I didn’t answer, I just gave him a smile. He smiled back at me. I didn’t sleep that night, the whole of my being seemed preoccupied with our ultimate fate. Once, I rolled over and looked at Leigh, sleeping next to me. I watched as his chest rose and fell. Why did we ever come to this god awful place? How had our visions of “a good time” become so distorted? We were animals, just barely able to survive; no one in the civilization we left behind would remember us, whatever happened next, we were truly on our own.

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[Pester D. Finches]

this is an older story, please forget about the spelling errors. im not stupid, im just a piss poor editor.