Transitory Glitch

There it was on the sandy ground in the middle of the old farm road. A red stain with dark pieces of chocolate. David watched the rest of the popsicle that was melting quickly. His heart sank in his chest; his big eyes began to look around. To the left, no one. To the right, no one. He crouched. He looked once more in the front, in the back, everywhere. No one.

With a quick movement, his finger was gripped by the molten liquid that was still colder than anything else. He quickly put it in his mouth. Thirsty, he dipped his finger in the rest of the ice cream. And once more. As he was about to dip it a fourth time, another finger tapped him on the right shoulder. It was hard for him to decide whether to stop, turn, or get up altogether. He put both hands on the ground and with a feline jump, he turned around still crouching, but ready to attack. No one.

He wiped his hands on his pants and turned towards the disappearing liquid. The ice cream had lost its taste, but it was still cold. 

'How many more? I think a couple if I hurry', David thought, still thirsty for the lost ice cream.

The sun hid behind the clouds and it began to snow. David froze.

'How is this possible? It's summer. What do I do now?' It was only in those moments that he began to feel just how cold the ice cream he had eaten was. He struggled to get up. He looked around once more. No one. 

He was a long way from home. The road he was on hadn't been traveled for years. 'It's starting to get cold', he thought. He stood there for a few more minutes to make a plan. Where to go? The nearest house was 2 hours away. 'Wait!', a smile appeared on his face. 'The ice cream truck.' He ran in the direction from where he had bought his ice cream. A circle of melted ice cream. That's what was left from the truck.

'If Ara hadn't pushed me out of the car, I wouldn't be forced to endure this cold', David thought. 'Ah, this woman has been driving me crazy. We have been together for 10 years and he chooses this moment to leave me alone, abandoned, in the cold'.

Standing in the middle of the red circle, David began to tremble. He was cold, so cold that he could feel his left hand start to numb. He raised it to eye level. The frozen veins lined up like icicles struggling to escape from under the skin. It was hard for him to look up. His eyelashes wore larger pieces of snow and ice than expected. The surroundings were deep in snow. He wanted to go back in time and stop himself from buying the ice cream. Wait. He wanted to erase that vicious comment that had caused Ara to abandon him. But it was too late.

'What do I do now? As far as I know, if I stay in one place I will freeze faster. If I move, I'll have to face the blizzard. Maybe Ara will return. Yes, I should stay in the same place for her to find me. But how will she be able to drive this far? The road is no longer visible. I can't see anything anymore. What if she doesn't see me and hits me with the car? What do I do now?', his voice held a deep sense of despair.

The red circle could still be seen from under the thick snow. 'There must be something here. What if I erase the circle? What would happen then?'. He began to drag his foot over the circle, trying to wipe it, to pulverize it. The first seconds seemed like years, but he managed to create a path in the circle. The path quickly covered in snow. Now the circle looked like an on/off button.

'What if I jumped on it? What then?'. He didn't manage to jump. Not even a millimeter. His feet were glued to the ground. The snow had reached his knees. 

'David! David!', a far-away voice. It was Ara. She had come back for him. She took him in her arms and started to cry. 'I am so sorry, David! I didn't mean to. Please, come back. David!'. They were both in the middle of the road, in a pool of blood. 

David could hear the voice, but he was still not able to see anything. The blizzard was still hitting him from all directions. Ara took the melting ice cream from his hand. His finger was making the same movement he used to when last he dipped it in the ice cream. Just like a tap on someone's shoulder. Ara took his hand into hers and began to stroke it. 'Please, stay with me. The paramedics are on their way. Any second now, David.'

Although David could still not see anything, he could hear Ara. He wanted to say something so badly but he couldn't move his lips. 'What's going on? Ara, I am here. Please, keep on talking. If I concentrate enough, I might be able to reach her with my thoughts. Let me start looking for something. Let me think, already. What can I do?'. David's mental search had begun. He reached the moment when the ice cream hit the ground. And as hard as he tried, he could not go past it. It was as if a huge brick wall was blocking the entrance.

He remembered the tap on his shoulder. And then he felt it again. This time, though, he could not turn around. But there was something else moving in front of him. A silhouette formed and approached him. 'Ah, Ara. She is here. I am saved.' But it was not Ara. He saw his own reflection in front of him. It felt as if he was trapped inside a snow bowl and someone on the outside was looking at him. A distant sound, the ice cream truck song was approaching fast. He could hear it closer and closer. Closer. Right there.

David tried to keep his eyes open, but the weight of his frozen eyelids sealed his sight forever. And his finger stopped tapping. The blizzard stopped. It was still summer. 'At least, I'm not going to be cold anymore' …