Page 1 of Recovered By Firefighter Daddy

CHAPTER ONE

Jamie

This is not what I had in mind when I planned to leave for Nome in order to get to the airport and fly to the United States. Everyone told me it was not the best idea, and I refused to listen. Now, I was completely lost and alone in the woods somewhere between Breckenridge and Nome, and my vehicle was buried under a large pile of snow.

Of course, my journey had begun simply enough: I left home early in the morning while the sun was still shining so that I could make the two-hour drive to Nome while the sun was still high in the sky. I could hear the winter birds singing in the air as I drove, and I even had the windows down for a short time to enjoy the cold, fresh air of the snowy morning. It wasn't until I reached what was called Avalanche Gulch that I really ran into any issues. Normally, everybody avoided Avalanche Gulch, but it was the fastest way to Nome, even though it lived up to its name.

Deep down, part of me knew that it was a bad idea even to attempt the journey, but I was already running pretty late, thanks to the fact that my snow chains had broken on my tires, so I had to make the journey much slower than normal. Not wanting to miss my flight, I decided to take the risk and continue through Avalanche Gulch, hoping and praying that everything would work out in the end. About halfway through, I heard the rumble that signified the avalanche and immediately gunned the engine, hoping that I would get through before the snow could bury me alive. I had almost made it, too, but when I was just about to reach the safety of the main road that would have taken me directly to Nome, the snow toppled over my vehicle, burying me completely in approximately five feet of snow.

I sat silently for several minutes, trying to determine if it was safe to move or not from the vehicle in order to try to get out. It wasn't exactly a good idea to remain buried under the snow for too long, especially since I could end up suffocating due to the lack of air in the vehicle under the snow. When I couldn't get free, I immediately pulled out my cell phone and checked my coverage in order to see if I could call for help. I knew that there was a fire station on the outside of Avalanche Gulch that always responded to distress calls related to Avalanche Gulch. Seeing that I had three bars, I immediately dialed 911 and waited patiently for the dispatch to answer.

"911, what's your emergency?" came the polite and cheery voice of the dispatcher. Taking a deep breath, I tried to remain as calm as humanly possible in order to make sure that if the call got static, the dispatcher would still be able to hear me.

"I'm buried underneath about five feet of snow inside Avalanche Gulch," I informed the dispatcher as calmly as I could. "I need help getting out." I could hear the clicking of long fingernails on the keyboard on the other end of the phone as the dispatcher processed what I had just told her.

"What side of Avalanche Gulch are you on?" she asked after a moment. "Near Highway 183 or Highway 267?" I didn't even hesitate for a second as I answered her question as clearly as possible.

"The east side by Highway 267," I explained. I could see the highway before I got buried in the snow. "Please hurry. It's cold." I didn't hear any response from the other side of the phone and immediately looked down to check the connection.

Of course, the connection had dropped, and I had lost the call. I was now staring at zero bars and a dying phone as I started to shiver. Even though I had been smart enough to grab my biggest, heaviest jacket, it was still freezing cold, and I felt like I would freeze before anybody got there.

"Please let them hurry," I breathed as I huddled close, tucking my knees into my chest so that I could stay as warm as possible. "I don't want to die like this. Not here, not now."

This is what I got for staying in a small town in the middle of Alaska for so long. I should have been out years ago, especially after my mother and father died, but, like an idiot, I had been stubborn enough to stick around and try to make things work. Now that I was finally going to better my life, it seemed as though I would die buried under the snow that I had hated for all my life.

I wanted to go to the sunny coast of Florida and make a life for myself. Maybe I would have found a Daddy and started a family of my own. However, buried deep under the snow, it looked like I wasn't going to get any of that. Instead, I would die the same way many people died in Alaska, cold and buried in the snow.

"They'll be here soon enough," I told myself, trying not to panic as I sat there. "Any minute now, they'll be brushing away the snow and breaking the window so they can pull me out to safety. After that, I'll be rushed to the hospital in order to get checked out, and then I'll be on my way to Florida. I never want to see another bit of snow so long as I live."