An Unlikely Stroll

It was the second night in the row where the snow was falling. An ordinary sight in the Rocky Mountains during winter time. December had just descended, and I was getting excited about the holidays that were coming so soon. For my family was going to be coming in for Christmas to visit. Upon looking out the window of my little townhouse, I decided to walk out into the snowy night and take a nice stroll through the park nearby. It was a bit of a hassle, being that the snow was coming down harder and harder it seemed as I was walking down the road towards the park. I had made sure to dress accordingly and was luckily not too cold. I entered the park which was for the time being empty, and marveled at how deep the snow had gotten around the play structure that during the summertime was often overcrowded with kids. 

The path wound around the park and continued on the trail that was etched out all over the small city. I followed what looked to be like the trail until I came across a beautiful bench steeped in snow, and wanted to take a picture of the surreal scene. As I walked over towards the bench, I looked back and noticed I was no longer leaving deep footprints in the snow. I found this odd at first but then justified the occurrence by thinking the snow was falling down so fast that my tracks were being covered quickly. 

Unfazed by the footprint issue, I attempted to pull my small camera out of my large coat pocket. I had brought it; in case I had come across any opportunities to take pictures. I moved my white knit gloved hand to the pocket but realized that I could not feel anything and could not feel the camera at all, though I knew for a fact that I had put it in that pocket. Puzzled, I fumbled for the other pocket, once again coming up empty handed. I for sure knew that I had brought the camera with me. I once again looked at what I expected to be my footprints and saw nothing but untouched perfect snow. A little bewildered, I turned around and decided to go back home and see if I could find the camera.

I was about to walk outside the boundary of the park when I was jerked back violently. I landed in soft cold snow, breathless. A few seconds later I tried to get back up and struggled in the deep snow. I was able to get my feet underneath me again, and walked slowly towards the end of the park. I put my hand up ahead of me and tried to walk out again. This time I was only thrown back a little bit and was able to catch myself before falling on the ground again. I could see no physical barrier and I started to panic. I needed to get home before I freeze to death. Plus, I was planning on having friends over for a small get together and needed to get a head start on the appetizers. 

A few minutes later, a young man walked on the sidewalk, walking past the park. I called out to him; he didn’t even look in my direction. So, I tried to call out louder, to no avail. I could not get his attention furthering my panic. I decided to test the boundaries of the park by walking towards the back near the trail head. I came close to putting my feet on the paved pathway and was thrusted all the way back towards the cute bench. This time I was nearly buried in the snow and once again had a hard time getting back up. When I got back up, I looked over and once again saw that there were no footprints left in the snow, no holes where my feet and half of my legs would have gone. 

This was all very dizzying, and I started to feel sick to my stomach. All the while I never felt cold, not even when I had fallen hard into the snow. A phenomenon I was unable to understand along with all the other obscurities occurring. I then tried to take my phone out of my pants pocket that was underneath my long jacket. Hiking up my jacket, I was able to get my hand inside my pocket, but once again could not grip a phone. I looked down and saw the protrusion of my phone from my pocket. So, I asked myself, why can I not grab it? 

It was starting to get dark, and I needed to get home but had no way out. Exhausted, I sat down on the bench and sunk into the snow that had become a large pile. I needed to catch my breath before trying to move again. As I breathed in, I started to feel a deep pain in my chest and I felt lightheaded. I was worried that I was going to pass out, and I had forgotten to bring my inhaler with me. The pain continued and I fell off the bench clenching my heavily coated chest. As the pain grew, I cried out, hoping that someone would come by and hear me. My vision was starting to go, tunnel vision had taken over. I could not breath in anymore, and I could feel myself falling even though I knew I was on the ground. Then everything went dark. 

I woke to find myself on the ground, covered in fallen snow. I expected searing pain, and frostbite. I didn’t even know how long I was out for. I found no pain, and no frostbite as I checked my limbs. In fact, there was no feeling at all, I could not feel the ground beneath me or even the snow that was caked all over my body. I got up anyways and made my way again to the edge of the park. This time it did not let me through but did not throw me back. For I had just grazed the edge, and found that I was still trapped inside this park. None of this made any sense to me, and as I looked around, I still saw that no one was out and about. The road was snowed over, and no cars were daring the potential ice. 

Utterly defeated, I went to sit on the small stairs of the jungle gym. I took that time to think about what had all happened, and was trying to think of ways out of the situation. When suddenly the pain came crawling back into by chest, slowly and agonizingly, it became white hot. Unable to hold myself up, I fell off the stairs, hitting my foot on the last step. That time I slipped into darkness as soon as I fell, a relief from the pain. When I woke up this time, it was daylight. Breathing heavily, I looked around and realized that nothing besides the daylight had changed. There was still no one about, not even a car, or a stray cat. 

This time, I took my time to get back up and head for the edge of the park. For some unknown reason I was able to feel things more this time around. I went over by the sign, where the supposed entrance was. The snow had not receded overnight, it was still deep everywhere I walked. Before I got to the sign, I looked back and once again took note of the fact that there were no footprints in the snow. I shuttered, so perplexed by the weird things that had been happening. When I got to the edge, as I expected there was no way out. Then I heard my name called out with an echo, a haunting sound that sent a shiver down my spine. I spun around so quickly that I fell over a bit into the snow, putting my hands out to break my fall. As I looked up and over towards the sound I had heard, I saw a shadowy figure outside of the park on the path. The figure was undiscernible until it came closer, braking through the invisible barrier of the park edge. 

I was speechless as this dark figure came close to me. When it was just a few feet in front of me it quivered and changed shape into what looked like a human form. A woman, with dark features and intense eyes. She said my name again, and I still could not utter a word. Then she put her hand out to me, and I took it, enamored by her grace. She guided me to the bench and had me sit down with her. She told me that my being trapped here was temporary. That I would soon be released but that I could not go home. For the pain that I had endured was real, and that pain was me reliving the fact that on December 21st, 2019 I had died of an unexpected and unpreventable deadly heart attack. One that was caused by an undetected heart defect, triggered by the cold and exercise. I thought this was preposterous, I had been healthy, had exercised all of my life without such a consequence. Understanding my confused dismay, the woman told me that it is hard to accept but true. I was never going to be able to see my family for the holidays or ever enjoy a holiday again. The realization hit me harder than the death itself. I cried out, saying to the lady that I did not want to be dead, I have things to do. Unable to comfort me, she gave me a shrug and told me that in time I will accept it. 

I looked out over the park, tears streaming down my face, and then saw how life had gone on without me. There were cars once again on the road, a few people walking on the sidewalk and down the trail. There was less snow on the ground and the road had been plowed. I stood up, and walked towards the edge of the park once more to find that I could walk on. I headed down the path, and looked back at the woman on the bench who nodded her head to tell me to keep going and then she suddenly disappeared in a cloud of smoke. Then I too disappeared, leaving nothing but a lifeless body underneath the bench I had admired right before my untimely death.