Saturday, December 9, 2019, 9:23 PM. Somewhere in the Tetons.



Shivering had stopped a while ago as Joshua and his dad waded through the snow. As he gazed at the icy sterile brightness of his screen, the world was plunged into darkness only light by headlamps.

“Should we turn back and wait in the car? Wait out this storm?” His father asked over the roaring winds.

Joshua twisted back. Even through the flurrying darkness he saw the genuine look of fear in his father’s eyes. With snow matting on his eyebrows and eyelashes, the verdant green eyes of his father were pleading.

He’d about had enough too. Soon the gasoline in the car would run out. Maybe they’d outlast the storm. Maybe not. As Joshua contemplated the options, he said back, “We’ve come too far to quit now. Just go with me another quarter mile.”

He’d been saying that a while back, and he wondered if this was a fool’s hope, looking out here for a flicker of something.

The words “No service” on his phone had set in the reality of their situation. With the car stuck in a rut of snow, without traction, there was a likelihood that some of them might now last until morning.

Joshua wanted desperately to warm up in the car, but he still clung onto the fact that he had service about half an hour back down the pass. Weak, at most, but nonetheless, service. It was worth a shot. Besides, he was used to it now, and the deep freeze in his bones had been replaced by an odd warmth. Perhaps it was the exercise.

[hr]

Joshua made it onto a rocky outcropping. His heart skipped a beat when the phone indicated one bar of service. Quickly pressing in the digits, he placed a call. After a moment of trading information, and the sudden surge in his father’s eyes of hope, he hung up the phone and turned back.

The trek up the pass was longer than he remembered. Perhaps it was the incline. As he traveled up, their newfound hope had tapered off.

This wasn’t the road, was it? Surely the parting of the towering evergreens matted with snow marked a path, but at this point, with the limited visibility, everything blended into one. 

“Are we going the right way?” Joshua asked.

His father patted him on the back and smiled. “Yes. Just a little further. Quarter mile.”

[hr]

Joshua opened his eyes. The bright light flooded in, burning his retinas. As he tried to reach up to block the light out, his arms ached and burned.

When his eyes finally developed some contrast and he saw the silhouettes of three people: two tall and one of them short.

“He’s awake, so I’ll give you some time alone,” an unfamiliar voice said, followed by one of the tall silhouettes moving out of view.

Joshua groaned and hissed. His whole body was in a mixture of numbness and fire.

Finally, his eyes adjusted to the mildly bandaged faces of his mother. Standing right next to him was his sister.

“You are lucky,” his mother began, her voice weak and croaky.

Joshua closed his eyes. The question in his heart rose up to his lips and asked, “What happened?”

“You were near the car when you collapsed from hypothermia. Dad brought you safely back in.”

Joshua clenched his teeth stifling another gasp of pain as it seared across his torso.

“Where’s dad?” Joshua asked.

“In the other room, recovering as well,” his mom said. “You two are both as brave and stupid as they come.”

Joshua managed a weak chuckle. It hurt to laugh.

“Take time to get the rest you need.”