Fairy Tale: Winter's Bite

Chapter 9: Famous Last Words (Part 2)

When Cassie's eyes tore open, as if only minutes later, she was startled by something unusual to her. And clearly a significant amount of time had passed because a natural source of light was peeking through the vehicle's windows. She hadn't seen the sun in such a long time that she stood and reached for it.

Cassie dropped her hand when Chris's eyes flicked over to her.

"You didn't have to sleep on the floor. We would have made room on a seat somewhere."

He leaned over and offered his hand to her. She climbed on. And he lifted her up in his open palm and held her tentatively below shoulder level as if unable to decide what to do with her from there.

His hand wasn't exactly a stable surface. Even so, she stood on her tiptoes so she could see through the front window.

"It's spectacular!" she gushed, nearly losing her balance.

"What is?" Chris pinched her feet to provide stability and lifted her higher. "Oh, the sun. Yeah, it's nice today. I haven't seen a sunrise like that in years," he replied pleasantly, but not with the same degree of enthrallment.

Chris's lift soon wilted and before he had the chance to abandon her on the passenger seat or some other uninteresting location, she slid down his forearm and climbed to his shoulder.

"That's better." She stood on the tip of her toes again so she could see over the dashboard.

"Um, I guess that works," Chris said. "Make yourself comfortable."

She sat on his shoulder, delighted with the view. There was something magical about the snow-laden forest and the way the sun made everything sparkle.

But its beauty was deceiving. For the moment she forgot, she was almost happy. Winter was cruel, though, and it always would be. Even if they escaped the cold, it was like a disease. It would cling to them . . . in their hearts and minds . . . and spread through to the bone . . . if they were weak and didn't do enough to stop it. With the forces they were fighting against, perhaps there was no escape.

⭐️⭐️⭐️

Later that morning, Chris was driving through the streets of Montreal. He pulled into a hotel parking garage and with Joe's help, he started watching cars and people. Since they intended to find some Americans and hitch a ride across the border, he parked in an area where there were many American license plates nearby.

"So we've got two New Yorks, one New Jersey, one Massachusetts, and a random New Mexico," Joe announced.

And then they waited, and waited some more. The cars remained dormant. It was still early, only just past eight. The car owners were probably sleeping off their Christmas vacation hangovers.

"Look!" Joe eventually said. "Sleep-deprived American youth with a duffel bag walking toward us."

Chris looked over and then contorted his face with disgust. "Joe, you obviously don't have your glasses on. He's wearing a Yankees cap."

Joe gave him an are-you-serious look. "The curse is dead, dude."

"Yeah, but it's a matter of principle," he replied with his head held high. Any other proud and loyal fan would have said exactly the same thing. "What are you? A Dodgers fan now? Traitor!"

"No, I don't follow sports anymore."

"Traitor by default."

"You've lost me," Cassie announced from her vigilant spot on the dashboard. She was apparently people-watching, too, or at least trying to absorb the nuances of the human world.