The Coldest Day Brings a Happy Ending

Ralph leaves his home to replenish his very diminished supply of coffee. Even though he is wearing his very warmest clothes, he still begins to shivers all over as he leaves his house. There are several reasons for that, only one of which is the very cold temperature he encountered when he stepped out of his house. There is a loneliness that makes the mind run cold alongside the body.

“Why does it have to be the coldest day of the year on my birthday. It is like the weather gods know what day it is and they curse me with the temperature. This year the day feels especially cold, as I am living alone for the first time in my life. A car crash had taken away my wife, my daughter and my dog. I do not think that they can be replaced, not even the dog. I will be alone in a cold world.”

Ralph often thinks out loud.

“I’m glad that I remembered to put my spiked shoes on. I can see that there are some pretty nasty icy patches on the sidewalk ahead of me. That would serve to complete the horribleness of the day if I were to fall. It definitely would put the ill-tasting icing on the cake of the day.”

There is a graveyard on the Ralph’s path to the shop where he is going to buy his coffee. It is the coldest spot on his walk for two reasons. One is that it is located beside a valley, so there is a strong wind that blows up from below and makes the cemetery the coldest spot in town. The wind rarely stills in the cemetery. Ralph thought about bringing something to the two graves of his loved ones lost, but it seems to him more pathetic than loving in the wintry weather. Anything he leaves would be covered with snow. He only goes there when the weather is warm. It was last winter when the crash happened.

“There aren’t many people outside walking the sidewalks today even though it is a Saturday closing in on Christmas. The only gifts I will be giving this year is to the people who work in the office with me, and I definitely do not know them well enough to give them something they would appreciate. And I’ll bet that they will get me something generic as well, like the warm socks I got last year, and the year before. I do like, however, that they give me something,

Then Ralph heard a plaintive cry. At first he thought that it was a cat that could not stand the cold. But as he moved towards where the sound was coming from, he saw that it was a little girl. She was lying on the sidewalk surrounded by deep snow, obviously having fallen and maybe banging her head, or at least her arms and legs. He moved as fast as he dared given the obvious danger of this part of the sidewalk.

When he got to her, he bent down on onto his knees. He saw that she wasn’t bleeding, but she certainly was in pain, and there was a large red mark on her forehead, which was an obvious victim of her fall.

“What should I do? I don’t have a phone on me, so I cannot call an ambulance. Should I wave at the drivers of passing cars?.  Probably no one had seen her as the snow on either side of the sidewalk is quite high, and she would be invisible to drivers.”

So Ralph stood up tall, and waved at the first cars that came by. They did not stop, even though he shouted out the words ‘injured little girl’. “Why are people so worried about scams in a situation like that these days?” So he decided to pick her up so that drivers could see her. He was very careful doing, careful as well that he might fall down as well, injuring both of them.

Then, finally someone stopped, and rolled down his window, and yelled out “What’s wrong with the little girl?” He replied by asking the man if he had phone so that he could call 911. That did the trick. In a short time, he had reached the number of the hospital. It took a while for the ambulance to arrive. Ralph got very anxious concerning whether of not they would arrive. They did, and quickly apologized for the delay by saying that the cold and the ice had created a lot of calls for people who had fallen, and cars that had slid on ice and crashed. He got into the ambulance as well, as he felt that he was responsible for her. The attendants were surprised that he wasn’t her father, but still allowed him to ride beside her. The two of them seemed so close.

While they rode to the hospital, she reached out to touch his hand and say ‘thank you’, you saved me.” Then he asked her what her name was, and she said ‘Gloria Jones’. Then she asked him what his name was. He replied, “I have been Ralph since the day I was born.” He then asked her “Where do you live? “Thirty five Leaside Lane” That was helpful, but unfortunately she did not know her parents’ phone number.

When they arrived at the hospital, he passed on the information he had received to the staff. The one who was to drive the vehicle to Gloria’s house, asked him to come with him to tell the whole story to her parents, as he knew more than anyone else at this time. He told Gloria what he was going to do, and she gave him three thankyous. But ended with “Hurry back. I want you with me”.

The parents were already in shock. They had not known where Gloria had gone. She was a bit of an adventurer, and would sometimes just take off without telling them. This was just another one of those times. They were scared as they knew that she hadn’t dealt with ice like this before.

In the drive back to the hospital, they told Ralph that Gloria had fairly recently lost her much-loved uncle as he had moved to the opposite end of the country. She took it personally, feeling that he had abandoned her. When Ralph told them about the loss of his immediate family, of his  story, they asked him whether he wanted to be her new uncle. He, of course, agreed, thinking that this was the best birthday present he could receive.