A Skiing Situation

As Marc Edwards entered Black Piste 62 on the Swiss Matterhorn he thought about how lucky he was on this trip of a lifetime and a business trip no less. The financial guys at corporate must be crazy, not one of them wanted to fly across the pond so he was the pioneer. He took in the hundred and eighty degree panoramic view. Could life be any better? He indulged in the snow covered peaks before him like fluffy meringue cast against a cloudless sky. It was a pity to waste all of this gloriousness on himself. He wished the love of his life, his new girlfriend, Annalise was there beside him. She was his second, no, his third or was it his fourth, chance at love. He honestly couldn’t remember, but he knew one thing for sure; she was young, very young and she was beautiful. There was only one problem, there was always a problem. He backtracked in his head daring to rephrase the word problem with the word situation. His new secretary,Grace, the one with the red lipstick said;

 “We have challenges and situations, never problems.”  

And so the only situation with Annalise was that at the age of thirty-five she wanted a baby.

Marc Edwards was tall, trim and proud. At the age of fifty-five he still had a six pack and his chestnut hair sparkled with highlights, at least that’s how he described his sprouting grays on his dating app Fairytrail.  He pasted a photo of himself on his profile from five years ago and he adapted ‘Peter Pan’ as his preferred persona because he saw himself as youthful. Fairytrail catered to digital nomads and the unfettered. Within a week of posting he found his “Rapunzel” a woman ready to tussle his hair, tickle his hardbody and escape the bonds of the day to day grind. At present his “Rapunzel” was bound to the kitchen, a pastry chef at the Four Seasons on Michigan Avenue concocting burnt milk ice cream and puff pastry. 

The Swiss Alps were beautiful on this day, his first day in Switzerland.  He flipped up his goggles to capture the moment as a light wind kissed his cheeks. He pushed off. He inhaled the pure virgin air so unlike the smog of Chicago. He rode his skis left and right, being careful to avoid the orange netting indicating a thousand foot drop. He loved to hear the whooshing sound his treads made on the newly fallen snow as he darted by the haystack-like moguls that had been carved by other skiers.  There were a few other hotdoggers whizzing by on the mountain, but he was in no rush.  He knew where he stood  and he was confident that not too many were at the top of their game like Marc Edwards,

As he descended, Marc thought about his last conversation with his Rapunzel, Annalise.

“Darling I love you,” she said,” but if you’re, you know, too old…” which he perceived as her saying he was decrepit, or “long in the tooth.”  She threw her head back and laughed causing a cascade of curls to glisten in the morning sun.

“You know I had a vasectomy for a reason,” he said. ”I had a wife and kids, soccer games and ballet recitals.  I never see my kids.” He pulled her towards him and kissed her. 

“ I don’t want to give up on you, Annalise, but we have a situation.”

“I can’t,” she said. 

He was lost in the world of Annalise, so lost that he lost track of time and space. A flash of sunlight shot up from the diamond white snow blocking his view. Straight ahead he saw the first in a series of moguls. Damn these goggles he thought. He wished he had packed his polarized magnetic lenses.  He tried to avoid the humps by shaving the white landscape in huge arcs, only to encounter the next bump. He considered skimming the powdery top, but when he hit it with the tip of his skis there was no give. This can't be happening, he thought. Before he knew  it, he was catapulted into the air, flying through space. He felt like a teenager in his youth on ski weekends with his brother. He remembered their long afternoons, days he felt would never end in Winter Park, Colorado where his cousins lived. Then thoughts of his wife and their ski vacations in Vail and Park City, Utah snapped to mind. He remembered skiing backwards down the mountain in front of his two kids following his lead like wobbly ducks. They were adults now who didn’t have the time of day for him.  Time stopped, it was only him in the air, his body floating freely through space and time. Should he perform a flip like he did off his cousin’s roof in Colorado?  His poles flew out to the sides and before he could right his body he crashed into the bern, his skis dislodged from his boots, his head bounced off a rock.  The last thing he saw were his goggles receding down the flattened snow covered run.  

When he opened his eyes, stars danced before him.  This couldn’t be real, he thought, this was like some kind of Tom and Jerry cartoon.  Real people do not see stars. 

Some time later his hand wandered to his side.

 “Where are you Annalise?” he said.

Patting the snow he looked down at what he thought were crisp white sheets. He felt for the curve of Annalise. He yearned to kiss her pillowy lips. Instead he felt a shiver of cold and when he tried to move his leg a searing jolt of pain traveled to his hip. No matter how hard he tried his inhale felt as if he were sucking air through a straw. Everything went black.

He woke up in a hospital bed, his leg immobilized, his breathing coming in short shallow gulps. He heard snippets of conversation.

“ life flighted,” 

“Concussion, broken femur, broken ribs…”

 “ lucky to be alive.”

He drifted in and out of sleep over the next few days. When he woke this time Annalise stood over him. He blinked only to discover it wasn’t her at all. He drifted in and out of sleep. He woke to the sounds of his secretary Grace. 

“Looks like we have a situation,” she said. 

He shook his head in the affirmative.  Opening his eyes Grace’s crimson lips came into view.

“And I took care of it,” Grace stepped aside revealing Annalise. “I got alerted to your situation and flew here to manage your care. The latest contact in your phone said Annalise. You start physical therapy tomorrow, but for now you have your love.”

“Hello Darling…let’s begin again,” Annalise said.