SHAUNTI [2015 featured story]

Chapter Twelve: Through the Snow

Jace’s stomach growled ferociously, causing his entire core to buckle over in discomfort.   He had been wandering for hours, and not once had he come across anything familiar.  Sitting down on the snow, Jace opened the backpack and pulled out a fruit bar.  Peeling away the wrapper, he gnawed on it and sipped from a water bottle.  He didn’t want to eat too much, for the fear of having nothing left was stronger than the hunger he was feeling at the moment.  As he chewed considerately on the grains of oats, he thought about Knox—who was either closer to him than when he woke up, or, far, far away.

“I’ll save you for later,” Jace informed the bar as he wrapped it up and placed it back in the knapsack.  It was getting darker, and Jace knew he had to find a place to sleep.  Picking up his supplies, he walked deeper into the woods until he found a comfortable tree to sleep beside.  Taking a jacket out of the backpack, he laid it on the ground and slept on top of it in a tight ball.  He was still cold, but knew he couldn’t do anything about it.  Jace closed his eyes, hoping a few hours of sleep would distract him from both the hunger and cold.

Hours later, the soft cooing of an owl stirred Jace from his sleep.  Turning his face to the sky, he noticed the dark blue canvas was speckled with stars and the bright moon lit up the forest around him.  As much as he found the moon beautiful to look at, it seemed more like an annoying nightlight.  Jace pulled his knees to his chest and shifted uncomfortably on the hard, bumpy ground.   He tried to return to his sleep, but it was impossible now that he was fully stimulated.

Frustrated, Jace groaned and sat up. It was no use.  He knew himself well enough that if he was woken up before 5:00, he could never go back to sleep.   Deciding to take in the night for all its worth, Jace leaned up against the cold bark and observed the silhouettes of the rotund tree trunks encompassing him.  They were all so perfectly spaced from one another that it created an optical illusion, making Jace believe they were all lined up beside each other, some just being a little shorter or thinner than the one beside them. 

Sighing, Jace felt his heart grow heavy at the thought of never finding Knox.  He knew he was lost—there was no way in finding his way back to the base of the mountain, much less the cabin.  Out in the wilderness, there were no road maps or compasses, only survival skills and a good sense of navigation.  Two things Jace had never been good at.

Knox thankfully knew the road back to the cabin.  Even though there was a new layer of snow, it wasn’t deep enough to cover the red tape strapped high around certain tree’s torso.  Knox was grateful his father had suggested marking the trees, otherwise he would have taken a wrong turn somewhere upon re-entering the woods.  As he lumbered through the knee deep snow, he began seeing white specks falling from the sky.  Thinking it was snow that had sprinkled from the branches above him, Knox dusted them off his shoulders just to see more reappear. 

“No,” Knox moaned as he picked up his pace.  He didn’t run, for if he did, he would waste his energy before even reaching the motor boat in time.  The snow fell faster and faster, and it was beginning to look a lot like yesterday.  Keeping his eyes ahead of him, Knox didn’t notice a dark bump poking up from the pathway.  His foot struck it and his body fell forward.  Knox caught himself and jumped to his feet, eager to continue his journey.  But when he lifted his right foot, something tugged it back down.  Looking down over his shoulder, he saw a strap looped around his ankle.

Knox dropped to his knees and scooped away the snow until he saw a backpack strap and a shoe.  It was Jace’s shoe.  With shaky hands, he pulled the shoe from the powdery snow and stared at it.  He didn’t know what to do with it—throwing it away felt disrespectful and holding it made him start wishing it was a magical lamp.  Having a simple solution, he tugged the backpack out of the snow and dropped the shoe inside.  Hauling the baggage onto his back, he trekked through the forest, following the blurred stripes of red above him. 

Jace woke up and found himself covered in a sheet of snow.  Frightened of the idea of being buried alive, the boy jumped to his feet, grabbed his backpack and bolted off in an undecided direction.  He was still partly asleep—his mind slipping in and out between dreams and reality.  It wasn’t until his leading leg slipped forward and the world in front of turned sideways did Jace realize he had been running.  His body struck the ground and he rolled down a hill.  Jace frantically fought against the motion, but all he achieved was propelling uselessly against gravity.  Still clinging to the backpack, Jace closed his eyes and embraced the speed. 

The wind scraped against his cheeks and the snow burned the exposed parts of his lower leg.  All he could imagine was slamming into a tree and dying instantly.  He was not the teenager who believed he was invincible against the world; he had been at the mercy of his father’s relentless beatings.  He wasn’t afraid of death, just afraid of how he would suffer under it.

When he finally spun to a stop, Jace opened his eyes slowly and was greeted by flurries of snow.  Holding onto his only reminder of a world outside the snowstorm, Jace hugged the backpack and began walking aimlessly.  He didn’t know where he would go, but standing in the middle of nowhere, freezing to death, sounded more insane. 

At last!  Knox found the lake’s shore.  Laughing at his good fortune, he slid down the bank and sloshed through the muddy mixture of snow and water.  When he reached the line where the water met the shore, he stopped in horror when all that was left of his transportation was the anchor and the rope.  At the end of the rope was a plank of broken wood.  Knox punched the air with his fist and turned around to think.  Perhaps Jace had found the boat and was already at the cabin?   Turning his eyes west, he looked up the shore.   If he followed the shoreline, he estimated about a week’s walk to return to the cabin.

Sighing, Knox lifted a heavy foot and headed for what he knew would be a dreary journey west.  But with each step, a churning in his gut and ringing in his ear shouted at him, telling him Jace had not taken the boat and was, instead, still lost in the blizzard.   Knox ignored the feeling and thought about returning to the cabin to grab proper supplies before searching for Jace.  Then again, Knox knew Jace wouldn’t last three days out in the snow.  Jace needed him, even if that meant sacrificing supplies that could extend their lives out in the wilderness.   Inhaling sharply, Knox raised his chin and pivoted back to the forest.  He couldn’t afford losing the most important person in his life.