Snow Days

“Skiing was so great yesterday. I wish the weather would have held out for another day.”So said the chalet guest, who should have gone home yesterday. But, fortunately, Ben was having such a great time he didn’t want to leave. But at least Jessica is snowed in with him, along with about a dozen other guests. And since they’ll be stuck here for a few days, they may as well have fun.

As the snow and temperature continue to fall, the snowed-in guests gather in the great room, taking stock of each other. Tara and Dennis have already decided they’ll extend their honeymoon. And, of course, Ben has already decided to pursue Jessica, who is also here alone. Three other couples are not sure they can handle being stuck inside together for very long. At least when they could go out and ski, they could separate from each other for a while. And that leaves only four other guests along with the chalet staff. With the possibility of as many as five days stuck inside with many people who don’t know each other, things could be pretty dull… or fascinating.

On day 2, two of the couples are fighting, two of the staff are refusing to work, and the weather isn’t showing any signs of improvement. Ben is still trying to sweet-talk Jessica but can’t seem to get past first base. 

“Hey Ben, have you seen Jessica this morning? We were going to get together to play some board games, but I can’t find her.” Penelope, one of the staff, is looking for any reason not to work today. Entertaining a guest will surely get her out of laundry duty. But no one can seem to find the guest she wants to engage. Maybe Penelope can talk the guests into a real game of Clue, and you never know, she might even find Jessica and play some Monopoly. 

Unfortunately, Ben and Penelope are the only ones interested in finding Jessica.

Penelope keeps looking for a way to get out of laundry, and the fighting couples keep looking for opposite corners to hide in while Ben keeps looking for Jessica. Meanwhile, the other guests are in their rooms doing their own thing.

“Penelope, can you help me find Jessica? I’m really worried.” She pauses the folding of linens in the laundry room to listen to Ben’s litany of thoughts about what may have happened to the woman he was trying to romance. So far, Jessica has not been seen outside of her room for more than 24 hours. She’s not answering her door, and it doesn’t sound like anyone is moving around inside. He’s worried something happened to her. Did she venture somewhere in the building where the guests usually don’t go, or maybe even outside, where she may have gotten lost? He doesn’t want to get overly anxious, but he wants to find his friend. 

Day 3, and there’s still no sign of Jessica. Now more people are worried about what might have happened to her. Tara and Dennis volunteer to go outside and walk around the chalet to see if she may have gone outside. The three fighting couples agree to split up, with the men going down into the basement and the women going upstairs to the attic. Penelope and the rest of the staff started going through the locked areas of the chalet.

Penelope bangs on the door to Jessica’s room. No answer, not a sound. Using her key, she opens the door. After all, Jessica could be inside, either sick or hurt. But no such luck. The room is empty of people. But her ski coat and boots don’t seem to be here. Does this mean that Jessica went outside when the snow slowed down in the middle of the night? Why else would her coat and boots be gone?

The search of the basement yields nothing but dust and stored supplies. But there is a puddle of water near the cellar doors on the far side of the room. Could Jessica have gone out through the cellar doors? If she did, it would put her on the south side of the chalet, facing the forest. Did she go out to check how deep the snow was and wander into the trees?

Tara and Dennis start walking in circles around the chalet. Then, arriving at the cellar door that gives direct access to the south side of the basement, they see footprints. They are small, like a woman’s boots. Could they belong to Jessica? Could she have come outside for some reason? 

After clearing off what seems like two feet of snow, Dennis opens the cellar doors and goes inside, where the men are looking at the puddle of water. One of the men calls his wife in the attic to let the women know they have found signs of Jessica leaving the chalet. Then, going upstairs, they tell Penelope they have discovered the tracks left by the boots she couldn’t find. 

Following the tracks left in the snow, the men run toward the forest, breathing heavily in the cold air. They urgently scan the area, moving toward the trees, looking for the woman who left the footprints. She must have come out after the snow stopped, probably trying to guess how long it would be until the snow cleared enough for them to be able to leave. With these thoughts running through their mind, the searchers aren’t wasting energy talking to each other. Instead, they are running and looking, hoping to find something before they enter the forest behind the chalet. If she went into the woods, she might be lost… or worse. 

They reach the trees with no sign of Jessica other than her boot-prints… if they are hers. It’s still freezing, so they decide to go back to the chalet to get some supplies for a more extended search. They also choose to call for search and rescue for help when they get back. No one even knows if Jessica left the tracks or what they may find at the end of the trail. 

Without waiting for the team, the men return with a sled full of supplies. They might need the sled to bring her back. As they enter the forest, they see animal tracks alongside boot tracks. They are worried and try not to panic. One mentions that it is good that Ben and his anxiety stayed back at the chalet. They follow the tracks further into the woods to a small cabin with windows full of light. Peaking in the window, one of the men sees Jessica inside.

Breathing a sigh of relief, knowing now that she is all right, they knock on the door. The caretaker from the chalet lets them inside, where it is warm and dry. Jessica begins to panic, backing up toward a corner and looking around to see who has come in. She screams the caretaker’s name, wanting him to make these people leave, but relaxes when she sees the men who had been bickering with their wives back at the chalet. Finally, finally, they see Jessica is safe in his cabin. They know the caretaker and that he will take care of her. She knows they will understand. She had to leave there, go anywhere, even out into the woods, away from her stalker. Away from Ben.