The Long Dark: A Survivor's Tale

The Lights

It was totally out of the ordinary. I'd been sitting amongst the bushes and snow all morning, patiently waiting for that perfect buck for hours on end. Nothing was out of place, nor did I get the feeling that something was going wrong. Until the wind started to pick up. But then again, Northern Canada always had those sudden gusts of frigid wind. I brushed it off, thinking nothing more of it.

I sat for another one or two hours when, finally, a good 4 year old buck came strolling into the clearing followed by a likely pregnant doe. He was a good size, around 7 to 8 points. I slowly leaned over and picked up my rifle. I rested it on my knee and looked through the scope. The crosshairs bounced around on the unsuspecting deer until I managed to slow my breathing and steady the gun as much as possible. I waited for the buck to move closer and more into the open. But it kept walking. It came closer and closer to where I was seated, so close that I was afraid to breathe for fear of scaring off possibly the only buck I'll see the whole season. It kept walking. The deer was standing right in front of me, so close I could feel it breathing. It looked up and directly at me before grunting and turning to walk away. I was dumbfounded. I sat there blinking, not knowing what the hell had just happened.

Eventually, I got up and decided I should probably get back to the cabin before nightfall. Many people have died out here at night due to frostbite and bears; I wasn't too keen on joining them. I tried to shake the thought of the buck out of my mind but it kept coming back. A deer. Usually they bolt at the first hint of a person but this one came right up to me and looked at me. I slung my rifle over my shoulder and started trudging through the thick snow, the occasional leaf or twig crunching under my heavy boots. My cabin was a still a 15 minute walk from the clearing and the sun was beginning to set, throwing brilliant streaks of orange and pink across the clear, empty sky. The wind had finally died down leaving nothing but a rather eerie and deafening silence, only broken by the snow crunching beneath me, my breathing and the occasional Crow squak.

Another 5 minutes had passed by when I noticed a strange color shoot across the snow. I stopped, looking around myself at the white snow when the color flashed again. Green? Turning to look up at the sky, I was met with a brilliant display of cosmic warfare as beautiful slashes of green, purple and pink arced across the darkening sky. The Aurora was always a sight to behold, even though it was the Earth's desperate attempt to keep the Sun from stripping the planet of its atmosphere. I decided to take the time to watch for a few minutes; My watch said the temperature was still well above 32 degrees. The Aurora continued for a good while, illuminating the night with gorgeous colors. My awe-inspired trance was abruptly ended when the lights suddenly stopped, leaving the sky empty and black. The silence that ensued sent chills down my spine. The wind was no longer blowing and the trees no longer rustled; The silence was deafening. As I was getting up, an impossibly bright array of red and green exploded over the sky, so bright I actually had to cover my eyes. The hairs on my neck and head began to stand on end and I swore I could hear a faint crackling in the air. The flashing continued for a couple of seconds before stopping all together once again. Then my watch went nuts.

My watch began to beep and ring like crazy. I pressed the alarm button but to no avail. The beeping continued. When I turned on the back light, I saw the time was going hay wire too. In fact, it wasn't even displaying the time; Just a bunch of numbers that kept changing. It was only when I took off my watch to shut it off when the beeping stopped and the display went completely dark.

"What the hell?" I tapped the glass in question when I froze in place. From behind me, I could hear snarls and light barks. Wolves.