The Bigger Picture

The Bigger Picture

Smashing and crashing were all James Alvord could hear as his plane, a small biplane that he had bought for himself several years ago, fell to the northern Canadian ground, where there was nothing but trees and snow to await him.

Six hours earlier, James had left his home in Vermont with a friend, and fellow WWI veteran, Henry Jennings, to get away from the distractions and stress of home life.

They had been planning the trip for weeks, and were excited to leave. They had taken off without problems, but when they had gotten to the forests of Nunavut, they began experiencing difficulties.

A large bird had come whizzing out of the clouds, got caught in the propellers, smashed them to bits, then fell to the ground.

“James!” called Henry. “What was that? Is everything alright?”

James was too shocked to reply.

“James!” called Henry again, “There’s no serious damage is there?”

The plane quickly started zooming towards the ground. James tried to pull the plane up, but it seemed to do nothing. With a sudden CRASH! The plane bounced on the limbs of a tree for a few seconds, and was then still.

“Henry?” spoke James in an exhausted whisper.

He waited for a reply.

“I... I think I’m alright...”

“I’m a little stuck at the moment, but... nothing too bad.” James stuttered.

James struggled for a few minutes, and freed himself. They were both covered from head to toe in scrapes and bruises, but that was all.

“We should gather some things we’ll need when we head out to find civilization,” James croaked, as he looked about the wilderness around him, nothing but trees and snow.

They decided to take with them enough food to last them several days, some containers of water, a first aid kit, and several extra jackets. They fit all this into two backpacks, along with few personal items, such as wallets and pictures of their families.

They set out within 45 minutes of when they crashed, at about 4:00 p.m. The cold air stabbed at their skin as they trekked through the snowy woods.

“Why did we decide to go towards Canada? Why didn’t we think that it might be deathly cold over here?” complained Henry, after walking for five hours.

“I think now would be a good time to stop for the night. It would be best not to be stranded out here by tomorrow evening,” James said anxiously, worried about what his family would think when he didn’t arrive, as planned, at 9:30 p.m.

“Do you think there’s a village so close?”

“Of course. There must be at least a small town within a days walk of here.”

Henry  didn’t question James’ optimism, and walked as far as he could.

They soon found a place to camp at about 9:00 pm, where they dug a hole in the snow for shelter.

The next morning was freezing. Henry and James put on extra layers to keep the cold at bay as best they could.

They stopped for a brief lunch and a bit of rest, and then were off again. The day wasn’t as cold as it had been earlier, but the temperature was well below what they had ever experienced.

Later, James and Henry heard a noise, the sound of rustling bushes.

James looked to Henry and whispered “Human?”

Henry only shrugged his shoulders.

“It may be  our only chance...” started James.

Henry nodded in reply.

They took caution as they slowly advanced to where the noise came from.

“Um... Hello? We’re... travelers. Our plane crashed, and we were looking for a place to stay and arrange a way for us to return to our homes in America. Is there a village or” James was cut of short as he heard a loud growl, and watched as a large, hungry grizzly bear emerged from behind some bushes.

They stood frightened for a second, and then took off running.

“James,” Henry panted, “We can’t outrun it.”

James, somewhat more athletic than Henry, ran slightly ahead of him, and swerved in a complicated pattern, trying to get the bear confused.

“James!” shouted Henry, “I won’t be able to keep up much longer!” Henry was, indeed, starting to fall behind. But just then, James scrambled partway up a tree, and helped Henry up. They climbed as far up as they could, and watched the bear run past without noticing them.

“We should probably avoid bears from now on...” said Henry, out of breath.

They continued on, slightly slower than before, until 9:00, where they stopped at a clearing, and dug another hole in the snow.

They woke early to find, that they had, probably, less than a days’ worth of food and water left. They ended up using all but a few mouthfuls of the water, and were left with barely enough food to satisfy them at dinnertime.

“Henry,” spoke James that night “We will need to find people by tomorrow. We’ve nothing left.”

The next day, the weather got much worse. There was a ferocious storm, and progress was slow. No matter how many layers they put on, they weren’t the slightest bit warm. There was nothing left to keep them alive. Every passing minute, they felt their lives slowly start to slip. Often when they walked, James would take out a picture of his family and smile, thinking of what his life used to be like. How he reacted to small things, like there wasn’t enough milk to put in his morning coffee, how he stressed over politics, how he’d get angry if he felt the tinniest bit hungry; these all seemed like terrible mistakes to him now.
    As the sun sank lower and lower, James finally collapsed.

“Henry,” he began, “I think...”

“What do you think?” Henry couldn’t help the words that sounded in his mind, I think there is no civilization anywhere within two thousand miles of here.

“I think we’re close.”

“You think what?”

“I can hear.”

“Hear what?”

“Voices.”

Faintly, Henry began to hear too.

“Yes. Voices...”

The last thing James heard was the sloshing of boots in the snow and surprised, frantic voices, before he lost consciousness.