- 3rd place winner February 2012 Aspiring Writer Short Story Competition
Thomas and his family sat down for breakfast. The rain had poured all night. When they awoke this morning they overlooked from their kitchen a thick blanket of fresh snow on the nearby mountains.
“It’s my cell phone,” announced Sarah to her family. “It’s probably a solicitor.” She knew very well that even telemarketers don’t usually call this early in the morning, but it was barely a point to ponder so she did not consider it very closely.
She looked at the caller ID. It wasn’t a phone number that she recognized. Moreover, it was not even an area code that she recognized. She did not have time for such nonsense so she pressed ignore on the phone and immediately dismissed the occurrence.
Sarah would cooked breakfast for her family every morning so they could enjoy a hot breakfast at the beginning of each day. She was an excellent cook and she had cooked them a gourmet egg sandwich with fresh home fries and avocado slices. Thomas enjoyed a hot cup of coffee with his breakfast and their two children, Joseph and Steven, ate their breakfast with fresh-squeezed orange juice.
Sarah’s phone rang once again. It was beginning to get annoying this early in the morning. She looked at the phone and it was the same wrong number. This time he decided to answer it.
“Hello,” she said into his cell phone. There was no answer. So she asked again, “May I ask who I am speaking to?” Once again there was no answer. However she heard in the background what seemed to be a raging storm. She listened very closely and could discern the sound of deafening thunder and howling winds.
Once again, she dismissed the call as an anomaly.
Thomas, after some morning conversation about the weather said to his family, “How would all of you like to go skiing today?”
The children responded with exuberance, “Can we please, Dad?” They were both still very young but they were both accomplished skiers.
After a short drive, as they arrived at the ski resort they were all very eager to hit the slopes. They all took the lifts to the top of the mountain and began to hit the slopes.
Later in the day Thomas and his family had all but lost track of one another. Often on such trips they would pick a place to meet up at the end of the day and they would enjoy the slopes at their own leisure.
Thomas began going down one of the more tumultuous slopes. He was the most adept skier in his family so oftentimes he would bid the more advanced slopes. Suddenly, moments after beginning the run, the sky was overcome by thick clouds. Seconds later the storm began. Before he was halfway down, the wind and the storm forced him to stop. The trees and other obstacles made it unsafe to continue.
He was almost 2 miles away from any signs of life. As if it were a miracle from God, he noticed a cell phone in the clearing. He had not brought his own cell. He knew it was time to make a desperate phone call so he dialed his wife’s phone. It rang 3 times and then she hung up.
He attempted to make his way towards civilization but the elements were beginning to be too strong for him. He made another phone call. This time there was an answer.
He heard the word, “Hello,” in his wife’s familiar voice.
“Finally, now I’ll be ok now,” he thought to himself. “I’m stranded, send for help. This is Thomas!”
He heard the words from the cell phone, “May I ask who I am speaking too?”
He shouted, “Its Thomas! Send help!” He was 2 miles away from civilization in the midst of an ice storm and worried that he could not make it back.
All that his wife could discern on the phone were the sound of deafening thunder and howling winds.
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