Snow Drift

[srsizzy]

Pete woke up in his bedroom, sheets just barely covering him on what was supposed to be another boiling summer night. He had been at a party the night before, drinking, getting social, the casual thing he did every Saturday night to escape the boring business of owning a car dealership. The party had taken its toll, but something about this night wasn't letting him get back to sleep. It was freezing cold in his bedroom. Goosebumps flushed his bare legs and arms where his boxers and night shirt weren’t covering his skin. He looked at the clock and saw that it was four in the morning. The party hadn’t ended late, and since it was Sunday, he was expecting to sleep in late. He rolled off of his bed, the cold sinking into his body. What the hell was up? It was the middle of the summer, and even in the winter, the city never got this cold.

 

He stumbled out his bedroom, scratching his stubble covered chin. The temperature seemed to drop further as he made his way to his kitchen. Even in his tired mind, he could still figure out that something was wrong. Maybe it was like that one movie where the whole world was freezing over because of global warming. He needed to wake up before he could absorb any more information other than the fact that it felt like it was below zero. Grabbing a mug out of the cupboard, he went to pour himself a cup of old coffee. Though the pot was half-full, nothing came out. He set the mug down, and lifted the lid, looking inside the pot. The coffee was frozen. “Holy crap!” he shouted to himself, tossing the iced coffee at the wall in surprise.

 

Breathing heavily, he tried to calm down. There had to be a rational explanation. He tiptoed through the shards of glass and chunks of coffee, looking for the thermostat. The device didn’t seem to be working. There were just random symbols on the small LCD screen. He punched random buttons vigorously, trying to figure out what was happening. He dashed to the TV, pressing the power button on the remote. It didn’t work. He fell to his knees and crawled to the screen, pounding the button with one meaty finger. The set refused to turn on.

 

He was on the verge of tears. Fancying the thought that this might all be a dream, Pete punched himself in the stomach. Already on his knees, he fell to his hands, and actually wretched for a moment. The cold was getting to him, he toes and feet were getting numb. He jogged to his bedroom, putting on two more shirts, a pair of pants, and some socks. Grabbing the phone, he dialed the first number he could think of: his girlfriends. He moved so quickly that he didn’t hear the absent dial-tone. It didn’t ring. He waited and waited, and it still didn’t ring.

 

It must have been a national disaster; electricity and phones down, freezing weather. Rushing to the door, Pete panted heavily, his steamy breath standing out in the frigid air. He undid the two locks, and slid onto his back as he sprinted onto the frost-covered porch. “Oh god, ooh god…” he sat up slowly, and the site before him made him gasp. “Holy shiii…” Everything in front of him was covered in at least three feet of snow. It never snowed here; not in the summer, not in the winter, never. Cars were up to their windows in snow. He slowly got up, the ice on the deck too cold to even leave melted water on him, and stumbled off his porch and onto the blanket of snow.

 

He walked slowly at first, taking in the spectacle around him. There was no way it could be happening. Slowly turning around and around, he noticed that no one had come out of their houses. It was as if the whole world was as frozen as the air. He tried to run, but the dizziness from turning made him fall flat on his face. The cold bit his skin like a thousand mosquitoes. He arched up in a trunk lift, and came face to face with a reindeer, or something resembling one. He forced his face back into the snow, hiding from everything in the world.

 

Refusing to get up, Pete lay there and hoped that when he lifted his face, this terrible dream would go away, and the soft snow that was freezing his eyelids together would turn out to be a pillow. “Get up!” he tried to say, but it only came out as a muffled cry. After mentally counting to three, then ten, then twenty, he finally lifted his head. The reindeer was just ten yards away, sniffling at the snow. It looked at him, and Pete realized that it wasn’t an ordinary reindeer. Its normal rack of horns appeared to be more like branches, with a plethora of types of leaves, ranging from what appeared to be blades of grass to pine needles. Its coat was greenish, and covered with frost. It looked at him, grunted, and dashed away at the speed of a cheetah.

 

Pete sat up, his eyes wide with terror, and his knees shaking. When he glanced around one final time, he realized that all the buildings were gone. All the cars, all the houses, all the trees, they had all just vanished. So had his entire life, it seemed. Before Pete could expand anymore on this thought, something hit him in the back of the head, and he fell over onto the ground.

 

A similar instance happens to anyone that joins, all the enter the snow world are "chosen" to enter. This thing can grow into any direction. Hope it's okay to post this even though I'm new, I'm not sure of what to do, but I really want to get to know the community, and was feeling a spark to write something.

Edited June 11, 2006 by srsizzy

[The Death of Rats]

Barry puffed hard as he ran, pelting his little six year old's legs into one depth of snow after another. Each time, he sunk up past his hips before he tensed his other leg and launched himself out and forward again.

 

He felt tired already, but he knew he couldn't stop.

 

The animal he'd seen grazing by that strange man who suddenly ran into both of their views and started flinging himself into the snow was obviously some kind of extra special magic reindeer...or moose, maybe it was a small moose (he wasn't quite sure)...Why else would it be made out of plants?

 

Maybe it was a member of a special team of commando reindeer that Santa kept in reserve for very difficult missions.

 

One thing was for sure. He'd only know if he asked it. And to ask it, he had to catch it. He leapt along as fast as he could.

 

His socks were getting soaked with icy cold water. His sneakers weren't doing a very good job of keeping out the snow.