The Night Ride

It was so terribly cold. Snow was falling and it was almost dark. Melissa touched the glow stick in the pocket of her hoodie. One more left. She cracked the first one when the sun went down. She saved the second one in case she needed it.

           The glow sticks were pretty, but they weren’t warm. Not even a little. And she needed warmth. For the hundredth time, she wondered how she came to be separated from the others.

           Tonight was New Year’s Eve and the last night of the Girl Scout troop’s Winter Wonderland Campout. They planned this trip to fall between Christmas and New Years, right after cookie sales were over. School was on holiday break.

           Before dinner, the girls sang a magical song to make it snow. A snowfall would be the icing on the cake. After all, it was called a Winter Wonderland Campout. But now, lost in the woods on a snowy night, Melissa wished it would stop snowing. Her Nike’s were soaked through, and she couldn’t feel her toes. She hugged herself to keep warm.

           The night had started out full of fun. Dinner at camp was finished, and while the scout leaders were busy gathering up the leftover candy canes and pretzels dipped in chocolate, Melissa and three friends decided to play hide and seek. The forest setting provided plenty of trees to hide behind as well as boulders.

           When it was her turn to hide, Melissa had already decided on the perfect spot. A large boulder on the top of a hill would conceal her perfectly. She tucked her blonde hair into her dark green hoodie, a perfect camouflage in the deep wood.

           She quickly clambered to the top of the hill while the others counted “Ten, twenty, thirty, forty, fifty, sixty, seventy, eighty, ninety, ONE HUNDRED”. By the time ONE HUNDRED rang out, Melissa was behind the rock and covering her mouth with her hands so no giggles would escape.

           She remained in a crouched position until her knees started to hurt, then slowly stood up, peeking around the boulder. There was no one around. She listened carefully. In the distance, she heard laughter and talking, so she promptly sat down in case they came back her way.

           The air became colder, and her breath made frosty little puffs. The pale winter sun disappeared; it was getting late. She stood up and yelled “All outs in free? – Here I am!” In the silence, the dried leaves rustled as the wind picked up. A fluffy snowflake lighted on her cheek, and then another one stuck on her eyelash.

           Melissa walked and walked. She tried different directions. None led back to the campsite. The tall trees all looked the same. It wasn’t at all like her neighborhood, where Mr. Larry’s house was white with black shutters and Mrs. Gina’s house was blue with white shutters. And her house was brick with no shutters. It was so easy to find the way back home there.

           Thinking of home brought tears to Melissa’s eyes. But then she remembered her Grammy always reminding her they were tough, and tough girls didn’t cry about every little thing. Was being lost a little thing?

           The wind was blowing the snow into swirls now. She sat down behind a wide tree trunk for shelter from the gusts. As she huddled there, she felt warmer. The snow was helping her stay warm as it accumulated on her hood and sleeves. She thought of how the Eskimos lived in houses made of ice blocks, and they were nice and cozy warm.

           Her eyelids became heavy. It was probably bedtime. She startled awake, not knowing how long she had dozed, but she was covered with snow. It was so dark, but the snow had a blue light of its own.

           Her fingers found the last glow stick in her pocket. She pulled it out and cracked it, transforming it from a waxy stick to a bright pink wand. Pink was her favorite color. Melissa waved the stick around, watching the stream of color in the night.

           Something was coming toward her in the snow. She tried to stand, but she was too cold and tired. She wiped the snow away from her face with her frozen fingers.

           It was a horse!

           A white horse walked slowly toward her, in a gentle swinging cadence. Its long white mane sparkled with snowflakes. Its hooves were bright silver as they scattered the powdery drifts. It halted at her boulder and looked down at her with softly glowing eyes. It had wings!

           “Your Grammy sent me.” The horse didn’t talk out loud, because of course horses don’t talk. But Melissa heard its thoughts, and they were directed at her.

           “My Grammy? I don’t have a Grammy anymore. She died.” Melissa said, looking down. Now she felt sad all over again about Grammy, whom she loved so much and always would.

           “You will always have a Grammy. You are Melissa, are you not?”

           “Y-Yes.”

           “Your Grammy sent for me and asked me to find Melissa. I remember that name because it sounds like my mother’s name,” the horse said, tossing its long mane and glowing brightly.

           “What’s your mother’s name?” Melissa asked.

           “Medusa.”

           “Oh, yeah, that does kind of sound like Melissa.”

           “We need to be on our way, Melissa. Your Grammy said you need to get back to camp, ASAP.”

           “Well, I think I’m lost. I don’t know where the camp is. I walked and walked and couldn’t find it. And now it’s so dark, I’ll never find it!” She let a little sob escape.

           “I know exactly where it is. I can see it perfectly because I have my own light that guides me.” The winged horse looked up at the sky.

           “Your own light?”

           “Yes, I have my own constellation.”

           “What’s a constellation?”

           “It’s a group of stars that form a picture. My constellation is a picture of me, Pegasus, the Winged Horse. Everywhere I go, my constellation shines its light just for me.”

           “Cool!”

           Pegasus spread his wings, very slowly, because he knew that humans often became frightened if he spread them too quickly. He arched his long neck down and nudged Melissa onto his back. He tucked her just behind a wing where she would be warm and safe.

           The horse began a slow walk that very quickly became a floating trot. At a clearing in the trees, Melissa felt the powerful wings unfold completely, and the wind lifted them far above the treetops. It felt like sitting in the seat of the Ferris wheel when it got to the top, and she could see far away.

           She held on tight, her fingers grasping the shimmering mane, and looked down at the snowy forest beneath them as Pegasus circled and turned in the direction of the campsite.

           They were almost back at camp! Melissa had a thought.

           “Pegasus, can you take me to see my Grammy first?” she asked full of hope. Tears came to her eyes at the thought of seeing Grammy again.

           “No, love. Not yet. Someday you’ll see Grammy again, but you have your whole life to live first. When you do see her again, it will feel just like the blink of eye in time.”

           Pegasus alighted on the snowy campground as delicately as a butterfly lands on a flower. Melissa slid down his wing and landed softly in the deep snow. Lights shone from inside the lodge house, and through the glowing windows she saw the leaders and the scouts. Suddenly, she couldn’t wait to be with them again.

           She turned to say goodbye to Pegasus, but he was gone. She looked up, hoping to catch a glimpse of him one last time. There, twinkling in the cold night sky, a constellation of stars formed a winged horse.

           She ran as fast as she could for the lodge.