Dead End Paradise

Chapter 2

I tentatively took my first step onto the road. I had no idea how much of the pavement was covered in snow and how much of it was ice. I couldn't risk falling in the middle of the road, despite the apparent lack of commuters. The wind chilled me to the core within minutes. It was the kind of made your bones ache and your skin feel as if it were going to crack. And yet, I couldn't stay with the car. Visibility being as low as it was, there was a chance my already beaten up car would get hit; I didn't want to be in it when that happened.

As soon as I was out of harms way, I gazed longingly in each direction. I hoped something would come to my rescue, but I doubted it. All I could see was snow. It covered the ground and filled the very air in front of my face. I could only glimpse the shape of my car on the other side of the road. Snow was falling so quickly that I could barely make out my tire tracks etched onto the road. I followed them with my eyes as far as I could before a speck of colour caught my attention. There, amongst a sea of white, was a patch of blue. It stood unmoving in the landscape before me, a short distance from my wrecked vehicle. With no other ideas, I began to walk towards it to get my mind off the cold. As I got closer, it became apparent what the object was. It was a bright blue mailbox. It stood attention at the side of the road, unaffected by the violent storm raging around it. It was an ordinary old thing, but it was my beacon of hope. Surely this mailbox belonged to a house close by.

So I walked. I walked in the only logical direction, despite any paths or driveways being obscured by the piles of snow. I soon discovered the line of hydro poles headed in the same direction, and used them as a guide. I hunched as I walked, trying to keep in as much warmth as possible. I shuffled along for ages. I kept the poles to my right, convinced that they would eventually lead me to shelter. Turning yet another bend, I stopped in my tracks and marvelled at what I had found.

I had never seen anything so beautiful in my life. Straight ahead of me lay a ball of light that shone through the wall of snow. Despite the ice forming on my fingertips, I suddenly felt warm. Every window in the house before me was lit; if not for the storm I'm sure it would have be seen for miles. I shuffled towards it, unaware that who resided within would change my life forever. I like to think that she knew someone would be coming that evening; that she knew the soft glow of lamplight would draw me in as if a moth to a flame.

With my eyes locked on my destination, I picked up my pace. Snow flew up around me as I plowed through the snow. I'm sure at this point I was soaked, but all that mattered was the warmth that the house before me promised. As I got closer, I began to hear music emanating from the residence. It started as a low hum above the wind, but soon grew to the point where I could hear it clearly. It was a familiar song from my childhood, though I could not place it. It played on repeat, the drums moving the windows and the vocals shrilling above the howling wind. It egged me on as I made my way up the driveway and tripped up the front steps, telling me that this is where I wanted to be.

With aching hands, I pounded on the door and waited. Nothing happened. The door before me remained firm and the music continued. I knocked again, this time peering in the window beside the door. Through the crystallized glass, I could make out the shadow of a figure twisting and turning to the music. On my third try, it froze.

"Hello?" a feminine voice suddenly rang out from a speaker beside the door. Pressing my face close to the source, I pushed a button with hands I could barely feel.

"I- uh- crashed- there was ice" I got out through my chattering teeth. My whole body shook now, trying with all its might to keep itself warm.

"Go to the side door" she replied urgently. In that moment the music went silent and I heard a bolt sliding on the door to the garage. I threw myself at it. Warm air filled my face as I slid through the opened door. The vents above me pumped out a continuous stream of tropical heat. I just stood there as the snow on my jacket began to melt off.

"Hell of a day to be out walking" the same voice rang from the other side of the garage. There she stood, lit from behind by a flood of warm light. She leaned in the doorway to the house, watching me as I shook the snow out of my clothing and the cold out of my bones. She smirked; I must have been a sight as I stood there dripping and staring silently. As much as I wanted to, my lips would not form words. She was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. If anyone were to embody the warmth I was now feeling, it would have been her.

"Take those off before you come in the house," she said, pointing at my soaked boots, before turning on her heel and disappearing into the depths of the house.