Snow Bound

Snow Bound


"Apparently," said Ed, as he finished clearing an area in the snow for the stretcher, "he and the missus had a doozy of an argument.  He said some things and she said some things, breakables were exchanged against the walls.  So, he shouted something about it being warmer out here than in the room with her, grabbed a bottle of Jack, his sleeping bag and tent, and stormed out.  Looks like he set up camp here, probably thinking the overhang would provide some shelter from the wind and snow."

Scott finished the path from the concrete slab to the mound of broken snow.  He turned to his partner.

"Can you believe all this snow, Ed?" he asked.  "It was really coming down last night, but look at the sky now."

Both firemen gazed into the Colorado morning sky, struck by the clear, deep blue even as they squinted in the glare of reflected sunshine off of the pure white landscape.

"Yeah, it sure is pretty.  And how about that wind, blowing everything all over?  It really piled the snow up around his tent, didn't it?  Covered it right over in no time and gave him that wind screen he was looking for.  Unfortunately, for him, it also made a huge drift off the overhang.  The drift broke off and landed right on the tent.  Added to the snow it was already carrying, the tent collapsed under the weight, and I guess he couldn't fight his way out.  With that empty bottle, he might not even have tried.  He was all curled up at the bottom of his sleeping bag, and then he got trapped."

"Poor schmuck," Scott muttered as he opened the door from the patio into the house.  "Suffocated in his own backyard.  Go figure."


[296 words]