Page 16 of Snowflakes and Sparks

Meeting her had been on my wish list for quite some time. If she came here, I might even be able to convince her to take part in the Winter Walk. It would draw a big crowd and I was certain everyone would love me for making that happen. Maybe then they would forget about me crashing that precious load of snow globes.

It seemed like Alex had forgiven me a long time ago already, even after I had sent him that horrible breakup letter. So why did the people of this town have such problems with me being here? Of course, there was no excuse for lying about having a driver’s license and breaking an entire truckload of snow globes, but still. I was tired of having to pay for one teenage mistake over and over again.

And then there was Alex, who filled my mind with confusing thoughts. I seemed to gravitate toward him like a cat toward a bowl of milk. When I thought of his smile and how it lit up his entire face, my chest swelled with a warm feeling.

But Alex was nothing more than an innocent fantasy. He had a life here, and my home was thousands of miles away. Besides, how well did I know him? Sure, he was fun to be around, but I didn’t know any of the important stuff. I was fooling myself if I even dared to think of our relationship moving beyond the boundaries of friendship.

I stopped in a big clearing to take a sip of my water. The cold air seeped through my jacket and I shivered. It was best not to stand still for too long in this weather, so I jacked up the volume of my playlist and started running again.

The snow in this part of the forest was packed so thick in some places that the paths seemed to have disappeared. The sun sank deeper with every step I took. A deep orange and pink glow lit up the sky, and I realized I needed to hurry if I wanted to beat the sunset to it.

Just as I was about to turn around and head back, I saw a deer standing a couple of feet away in a big clearing. I paused my music and inched toward it. I had never seen a deer up close and figured this was my chance. Only, how did one approach a deer? The only reference I had was watching Bambi, which counted for nothing.

A creaking sound underneath my feet snapped me out of my Bambi trance. I looked around and saw little patches of water covering the surface.

Oh, man. Had I walked straight onto a frozen lake? If this didn’t scream City Girl, I didn’t know what would.

Okay, no need to panic. No one would ever find out how dumb I was, because I swore not to tell a soul about my stupid mistake. I turned around and hurried back, but after only a couple of steps the ground collapsed under my feet. Ice-cold daggers of water hit my body and I flailed around, looking for a way out. If I couldn’t be freed from this torture soon, my chest would explode and I’d die.

I willed myself to stay calm and think rationally. If I got in, I had to be able to get out as well. At least I was only waist-deep into the water. After what seemed like an eternity, I managed to pull myself out of the treacherous pit I’d fallen into. I stumbled toward a patch of trees and sank down on the ground, trying to breathe. Tears streamed down my face when the gravity of what had happened sank in. I could’ve died, like legit over and out. I knew I had to move, but I was afraid of falling into a snow-covered pond again.

With shaking hands, I took my phone out of its holder, which, thank the heavens, was waterproof. For a moment I debated calling 911, but I figured that the one person I knew would help me without questions would be here way faster than an ambulance.

I dialed Alex’s number, praying that he’d pick up.

After two failed attempts, he answered his phone and I told him about the predicament I was in.

“You have an iPhone, right? What’s the password of your Apple ID?” he asked.

“I’m about to die and you want to hack my phone?”

“Just so that I can locate your phone and know where to find you.”

“Right.” Gosh, the icy cold water had apparently frozen my brain cells as well.

I gave Alex my account details and told him to hurry. I was afraid that I’d lose consciousness or maybe have a limb freeze off. Or worse. What if I froze, then got eaten by a bear?

It was now pitch black and I was all alone, shivering and scared. I had to do something or I’d have a full-on panic attack, so I started to recite the alphabet.

How much time passed, I didn’t know, but finally I heard Alex shouting my name in the distance.

“Over here,” I called out to him.

Tears of relief fell down my cheeks as he closed the distance between us.

“Suzie? Thank goodness you’re okay,” he said, kneeling down next to me. “You’re freezing. Here, put this around you.” He draped a blanket around my shoulders and I clasped it with shaking hands.

“Thank… you… for… saving me,” I managed to say.

“You’re lucky that you were able to reach me. You could’ve died out here.” His face creased with concern.

“It all happened extremely fast. I just wanted to pet Bambi,” I muttered.

“Bambi?”

I nodded and tried to get my teeth to stop from chattering. “I’ll explain later.”

Alex turned around, his back facing me. “Hop on, girl. We need to get you to the car asap.”

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