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THIRTEEN
LIAM
Ihad brought up more than enough wood to last us for the night. I was about to head inside when I felt the first few drops of rain. Or what I assumed were drops.
The wind was blowing so hard that the rain felt like someone was throwing pellets at my cheeks.
And now that I knew it was starting to rain, I went down for one more load. The wood shed up on the deck was full, but it wouldn’t hurt to bring another load inside, especially so we would have plenty of dry wood for the stove.
As I reached the bottom of the stairs and turned to go under the deck, I noticed that the light from the flashlight didn’t reach as far. Another sign that the rain was going to make things more difficult. It was already hard enough to see without any lights or the moon.
I moved the flashlight to my armpit, just like I had done all the other times I came down for wood, so I could see and still use both my hands. But this time, as I bent over to get under the deck, my foot hit a patch of wet grass, and I slipped.
The flashlight and my body went flying. I landed on my back with a loud thud. I took inventory of my body, and while my spine had taken a hit, I was fairly confident I was okay. I hadn’t hit my head or lost consciousness, and nothing felt broken.
A few raindrops hit my face while I decided it was safe to roll over and get up again, and I knew I didn’t have much time before there was a full-on storm.
I looked around for the flashlight and noticed it had rolled down the hill a few feet. The hill was steep on the best days, but in bad weather, it wouldn’t be the greatest to walk down. But if I slid on my butt, it would be manageably safe, and I had more fear for walking around in the dark than I did for going down the hill a bit.
It took me about two minutes to get the flashlight, and I wondered what I had been so worried about. Clenching it in my hand brought me some relief, especially now that I could shine the light up the hill to orient myself better.
I swept the landscape with the light and saw I wasn’t too far from the deck. I just needed to get back on my feet and up there. Thankfully, it was still sprinkling, so I wasn’t really wet, but I was getting cold. My fingers were going numb, and I wished I had looked around for gloves before coming outside.
I pushed myself to my knees carefully, still making sure that I hadn’t hurt anything in my fall. I seemed to be good, so I planted my feet, ready to stand.
But when I put the pressure on my legs to get up, my shoes slipped, and I slid down the embankment.
Only this was not a controlled slide, so I couldn’t stop myself. The only thing I could hold on to was the flashlight, as I wasn’t close to trees or any other large object to grab. The best I could do was relax my body, so if I crashed into something, I would hopefully minimize my injuries.
Fortunately for all my bones, I landed in the creek. Unfortunately for my internal temperature, I was now wet from head to toe.
I knew I needed to get out of the water as soon as possible and get inside before hypothermia set in. A common misconception was that it took freezing temperatures to get hypothermia, which wasn’t true. Now that I was wet and the wind was blowing, I was very susceptible to the condition.
The creek, which had been moving slowly last night, was now picking up speed, thanks to the wind. But the jutting rocks I had warned Chloe to be careful of if we went swimming actually came in handy, as I was able to grab one before I moved too far downstream.
I threw the flashlight onto the bank and pulled myself out of the water. It probably sounded odd, but it was even colder outside the water than it was in, and I had to force myself to get up when I wanted to lie down and not move.
Using the flashlight, I noticed that I had moved downstream from the cabin, but the good thing was, the land was a little flatter, and there were more trees around. I suspected I was no longer on the property, and that was why trees hadn’t been cleared from the land.
Using the trunks, I pushed myself up further and further until I was at the same level as the deck. I considered going around to the front of the cabin, but I calculated both routes and concluded that the deck route was shorter and faster.
Although I could have been wrong since I was starting to get tired. Exhaustion was an early sign of hypothermia, as was confusion. I didn’t feel confused yet, but that could just be because my brain wasn’t working like it should.
I struggled forward, against the wind, and when I reached the bottom stair of the deck, I fell to my knees. I laid my head down on the upper stair for a second because I wanted to go to sleep. Just a little nap, and then I could wake up with more energy.
Part of me knew that was a bad idea, and I sat up. My teeth were barely chattering at this point.
Using the last of my strength, I did the only thing I could think of. I heaved the flashlight up to the top of the stairs and hoped that Chloe would hear it and investigate.
I was pretty sure there was no way I was getting up to the sliding glass door on my own.
FOURTEEN
CHLOE
Boom.
I jumped as the loud sound of something landing on the deck scared me.
