On A Night Like This

Chapter Thirteen

-Dylan-

He watched the snow drift down from the sky, falling silently through the air and settling softly on tree branches and on the marshmallow puffs of snow already on the ground. He loved the quiet and the sense of peace that came with being out in nature. However, it wasn't as quiet as usual because Jayce was snowshoeing with him again.

He could hear the sound of Jayce's snowshoes and the rustle of his jacket against the trees as he brushed past them. One thing he liked and appreciated about Jayce was that Jayce made an effort to be quiet most of the time. He hadn't ever told Jayce he preferred quiet, but Jayce seemed to have picked up on it.

Closing his eyes, he turned his face to the sky and let the snowflakes fall onto his skin. He had only stood there for a few seconds before he heard a yelp and the sound of snow and branches moving. His eyes snapped open and he searched for Jayce.

"Dylan!" Jayce called, a note of fear and panic in his voice.

He saw Jayce's chest, arms, and head sticking out of the snow near a tree, and he immediately knew what had happened. Jayce had fallen into a tree well.

"Hold still," he called back. He hurried over to Jayce, who was clawing at the snow in front of him. All that succeeded in doing was causing more snow to fall into the hole with him.

"Stop struggling," Dylan said. "You'll only make it worse." He carefully knelt down in front of Jayce and took one of his hands. Jayce was panting and his eyes were darting around, and Dylan could tell he was in a full panic.

"You're okay," he reassured Jayce. "I need to dig you out, but you have to stay still."

"I can't move my feet."

"The snow has fallen on top of your snowshoes, so you won't be able to move them."

Jayce squeezed his hand. "Don't let go."

"I have to. I need both hands to get you out."

Jayce was reluctant, but he let go of Dylan's hand. Dylan removed one of his own snowshoes and used it to start digging snow away from Jayce and the hole he was in. It took a few minutes, but eventually he had enough snow removed that he could pull Jayce out.

Jayce sat on the snow, breathing heavily and clinging to Dylan. "Why was there a hole there? I didn't think there was enough snow for a hole that deep."

"It's a tree well. The lower branches of the tree keep snow from gathering around the base of the tree, so the snow builds up around the outside of the branches and leaves a gap around the tree trunk. If a skier or snowshoer gets too close to a tree, they can fall into the empty space around the trunk. Tree wells have killed skiers because they tend to fall in head first and suffocate under the snow."

Jayce looked horrified. "Why is everything dangerous?" he asked, frustration replacing the fear in his voice.

"It's the wilderness. It's not Disneyland."

"You could have told me about these," Jayce shot back, sounding angry. "I didn't know I was at risk of almost dying a few minutes ago."

"You weren't going to die. It was a shallow tree well, you weren't in there upside down, and I was here to help." He softened his voice, telling himself that it was more important to comfort Jayce than to be right. "I'm sorry. It's my fault for not telling you to stay away from the trees. There isn't really enough snow right now to create a deep well, but sometimes more snow can accumulate in a specific area. I should have warned you anyway."

Jayce got to his feet, avoiding Dylan's eyes. "I just want to go back. I'm cold and tired now."

"We can go back." He got up and began to lead the way. Despite Jayce not being happy with the situation, and probably not happy with him either, Jayce still stuck right by his side.