COLD
My eyes scanned the field thoroughly,
taking in every detail. I was searching for Harry. I registered the dark green
of the cedar trees, and the occasional brown of a dead tree, pointing up from
the snow towards the sky like a medieval gravestone, signifying the unfortunate
demise of some poor traveler. My knuckles were white as I gripped the fence-post, my eyes searching.
I didn't like Harry. We had met on several
occasions, (all of them bad, and on his terms.) Harry was Mr. Brown’s bull, and
a rather large one at that. I felt a shudder run through me as our last meeting
came to mind. He had chased me through the field, and in my terror I had leaped
headfirst over a barbed wire fence, and landed square in a pile of fresh
manure. My greatest desire in life was to reach the age where I could legally
purchase a firearm ...or explosives. I felt a smile tugging at the corners of
my mouth as I pictured Harry sailing through the air after stepping on a land-mine.
I was on my way to a patch of dense woods
about a quarter of a mile from the main road that had a creek running through
it. A person had to cross a field to get to it, the very same field in which
Harry lived. This wouldn’t be my first time either, I had been fishing in the
creek the summer beforehand, and there were plenty of fish there. Also, Harry
could not move well in the woods, so he stayed away from them. I was going to
go ice fishing, something I had read about, but had never done.
I crossed the fence, and started across
the field at a slow jog. I came to the creek, and decided to follow it back to
the patch of woods, since it would probably be safer that way.
The creek was frozen over, and as cold as
it was, I figured it would be strong enough to hold me. It was not a very large
creek, about fifteen feet across, and maybe four to five feet deep at its
deepest points. I had decided to walk on the ice, just in case the bull was
out. Hopefully he would think twice about chasing me down there.
I stepped down on the ice, half of my
brain conscious of the sounds the ice was making, the other half keeping an eye
out for Harry. The ice barely creaked as I put my full weight on it. Ready to
spring to shore, I bounced on my toes, testing the ice. It seemed solid. I
began to walk down the center of the ice, still watching out for Harry. I had
pictures in my head of him seeing me, and coming down onto the creek to get me.
I snickered, wondering how he would react as he plunged through the ice.
Then the ice snapped.
I tried to throw myself backwards, but it
was too late. As my head slipped under the surface, the shock of cold water
numbed my brain, and the thought passed through my head, 'Wait, isn't my life supposed to flash before my eyes?' Immediately
afterward, a second thought passed through, 'No,
it would be too boring.' I started myself, I had to get out. I thrashed
around, trying to orient myself, and my feet found the bottom. I pushed hard
with my legs, and came up against a hard barrier.
The ice was over my head.
I was scared now. I felt around with my
hands on the ice, frantically searching for the hole, I couldn't be too far
away from it. I couldn't see it because my eyes were closed, I was scared to
open them, for fear they would freeze.
I began to run out of air. I could feel my
chest heaving as the oxygen in my lungs began to run out. 'Where's the blasted hole?' my mind was screaming. I gave up
looking for the hole, and braced my feet on the bottom, and began to ram my
shoulder against the bottom of the ice. I figured that if I came through one
hole, I could surely make another.
After three or four tries I felt something
begin to give, so I hit the ice, and began to push as hard as I could, my
muscles screaming for oxygen, fear pumping the adrenaline through my veins,
giving me extra strength. My head began to feel fuzzy, as my air was almost
gone, my chest heaving almost uncontrollably, the thought screaming through my
brain, ' I need air!'
I came through the ice into the open air,
my breath coming in gasps, as my starved lungs gulped the air. I opened my
eyes, and looked around. I was about twelve feet from where I first broke
through. How I got this far, I don't know. I was only about eight feet from the
side. I struggled to pull myself onto the edge of the ice, and only succeeded
in breaking off the edge.
I paused, watching my breath frost as it
left my mouth, and looked around. I spoke aloud to myself, my voice sounding
strange in the clear air, “Steve, if you don't get out of here, you are going
to die.”
'No
thank you',
my brain responded. I began to throw myself at the side of the hole. I figured
if I couldn't climb on top of it, I was gonna break a hole to the side. I
finally succeeded in pulling myself on top, and crawled to shore. I climbed up
the embankment, and stood up on level ground, my body shivering almost
uncontrollably.
Fixed one problem started another one. In
studying outdoor skills, I had also studied first aid, and it was easy to
recognize the early stages of hypothermia. I knew that I needed to get moving
to keep my body heat up, so I struck out heading toward the road. I had about
two miles to go to get home, and I knew that I needed to get there quick. I
stumbled across the field, no longer caring about the stupid bull, stumbling
through the snow, my sodden clothes beginning to harden as the water froze.
For the first time in my life I began to
pray, 'Lord, if you are out there, please
help me.' I began by simple pleadings, but ended up on my mental knees,
groveling before him in my mind. 'Lord, I
won't hit my sister anymore, even if she deserves it.' After a few minutes
I graduated to…'I'll even give back the
five dollars I stole from Dad this morning.' The money in my pocket almost
gave off its own heat with shame. I made it to the barbed wire fence, and tried
to climb, but could not lift my leg, my clothes were so stiff. After several
unsuccessful attempts I gave up, and just leaned over the fence, and let myself
fall over into the snow on the other side.
I floundered to get up, the ice in my
clothes cracking as I struggled to pull myself up with the fence-post. I finally
made it up, and stood there, looking at the snowdrift that I had crossed
earlier. Wanting to curse, but knowing it wouldn't help any, (especially as I
was looking for some benevolent favors right now,) I walked over, and waded
through the drift, and crossed over the ditch to the road.
Finally, I was at the road. If things went
well, I would meet somebody on the road, and catch a ride home before I turned
into a kidcicle, but in this weather, I knew that I didn't have much of a
chance at that. I staggered on, in a laughable excuse for a slow jog, knowing I
had a good distance to travel, part of it uphill.
I kept this pace up for about ten minutes
or so, but I finally had to slow down. The extra weight from the ice in my
clothes, as well as the whole experience itself had sapped my energy down to
nothing, and my breath was coming in great gasps, which wasn’t good for keeping
my body warmth. As I slowed to a walk, I began to hear an engine. I looked
around, and saw a truck coming towards me. I almost shouted, but I didn't have
the energy. 'Saved', my mind shouted,
'I'm going home.' Things were looking
up for me after all. I began to pray quickly, 'Lord, don't worry about what I said a minute ago. I'll be alright.'
As the truck came closer I recognized it.
It was my neighbor Corbin. The truck was a 1984 Ford Ranger he had recently
purchased. My heart began to beat faster with anticipation. I was going to be
alright now.
He came to a stop next to me, and rolled
down his window. “Hi there Stan,” (he never could get my name right.) “It's
cold out here, isn't it?”
I
murmured a positive response, and then asked him if I could get a ride.
“Well there Stan, I would, but you look
kind of messy from playing in the snow.” He chuckled slightly “Besides, you
don't have real far to go before you get home, so you'll be alright.” With that
said he rolled his window up and drove off.
My heart dropped at least four inches as I
watched him pull off. I quickly looked around for something to throw. Bummer,
the snow had covered everything. Consigning his soul to Hades, I began to
stumble on, my frozen clothes chafing at my numbed skin. Each step I took was a
profound effort, as I concentrated on walking. I knew that I had to keep
moving, or I would die.
I was miserable. After walking for at
least another twenty minutes I made it home. It was great to finally be home.
It took me several days to fully recover
from the mild case of hypothermia I ended up with, and on top of that, I ended up with the flu.
(On the bright side, I got to stay in bed and read for a few days…) I
eventually recovered, and went about life much like any other kid my age. I played with friends, and read books. I
bought some fireworks with the five dollars, and used them on Corbin's house in
the middle of the night.
All in all, it was a real learning
experience. After that I learned not to trust in people, because they were very
unpredictable. I also learned that payback has little value, (but what value
there is, is fun.) But most of all, the most important thing I learned was to
stay off the ice.
