Trapped

WOOSH! The sleds were off, the race was underway. Scarlet inhaled the crisp cold air and as she exhaled she watched the cloud of her breath fill the air in front of her. Time stood still for a moment. Everything seemed to slow as she looked around at the other dog sleds tearing through the fluffy white wonderland around them at the speed of bullets. It was like this at the beginning of every race. The world around them that was so calm and motionless was now being disrupted by the stampede of sleds dragged by great powerful dogs. The owners crying out sounds of motivation and praise. And now as nature seemed to stand still to let them pass, it seemed like they were the only things here. Nothing could take away from this perfect moment. And that’s when it happened.

Scarlet’s bliss was interrupted by the sound of dogs crying out and people yelling. It took her a moment to realize just what was happening and then she heard it. The most terrifying sound she could have heard at that very moment. A great rumbling sound louder than thunder like the roar of a bear from within the earth came from above followed by the deafening crack of rocks breaking. She looked up just in time to see it. The huge cloud of white billowing down the mountain to her left. All she could hear now was her heart beating faster, faster, faster. 

“AVALANCHE”, the sound of one of her competitors yelling awoke her from her daze.

Snap out of it. Now wasn’t the time to zone out she needed to think and fast. She realized her dogs were still running at full speed. Scarlet squinted and saw that not too far in the distance was the river. Covered in a thick layer of ice which should be melting soon with the summer sun. She looked back to her left to see the plume of white and rocks drawing nearer. The river was closer now. She had no choice. 

The dogs tried to stop as they neared the river bank but she yelled, “MUSH”. They hesitated but obeyed. 

The sound of the avalanche was so close she could almost feel it. The dogs ran over the edge of the river bank and hit the ice. After slipping and sliding they regained their traction and started again at full speed. They were gonna make it. Almost there. Just a few more feet.

CRACK. Her heart dropped. CRACK. She knew what she had to do. Taking the knife from her pocket she began cutting the ropes connecting the dogs to the sled as quickly as she could. CRACK. The dogs broke loose just in time. The last thing Scarlet saw before it all went black was a huge black wolf in the woods ahead. Ironically the sight of that wolf gave her a chill just as she hit the water.

~~~~~~

Scarlet opened her eyes. No way. There was no way she was alive. She looked around and saw that she was on a river bank next to a rapidly flowing river. How had she survived? Realizing that her clothes were still soaked and she would probably get hypothermia if she didn’t act fast she pushed that question to the back of her mind.

She stood up shivering and brushed some of the snow off her clothes. She took in her surroundings. There seemed to be nothing but the river and snow for as far as she could see so she started walking.

After walking for ages with no signs of life, she was about to give in to her seemingly inevitable death. But then she saw something up ahead. A light maybe? She kept walking, now with more determination than ever. There it was. It was a miracle. 

A small log cabin stood maybe 50 feet in front of her. She started running until she reached it. There was smoke rising from the chimney. Scarlet figured someone must be inside so she knocked. No one answered so she tried again. Still no response. She opened the door and stepped inside to find no one there. In fact it looked like it had been abandoned for years except for the fire going in the fireplace. She didn’t have the strength to ponder on how that got there so she walked in and took off her clothes and hung them in front of the fire to dry. Exhausted, she fell asleep in front of the fire.

When she woke up the fire was out. It was light outside so she figured she’d try to find someone or something that could help her. She put on her clothes and stepped out into the sharp cold winter morning. She gasped at what she saw across the river. The large black wolf was standing at the edge of the woods on the other side staring directly at her. His stare held her and she felt trapped under his gaze. It wasn’t until he turned and bounded out of sight that she felt like she could breath out. 

Scarlet walked for what seemed like hours in the snow finding no signs of life when she saw something up ahead. She started walking swiftly toward it but something felt off. It was a building. As she drew near she realized why it had felt so odd. It was the cabin. She had walked in a circle. She didn’t understand this as she had been following the river the entire way. At this point it was nearing night time and she was extremely hungry so she didn’t put too much thought into it.

She went down to the river and to her relief found an abundance of fish swimming through it. It took awhile but she caught one to cook on the fire which had mysteriously started burning again on it’s own.

She fell asleep in front of the fire again and woke up the next morning feeling confused. Why had she left the cabin yesterday? Wasn’t she supposed to be here? She couldn’t seem to remember a time where she hadn’t been in the cabin. The cabin was comfortable. It was safe. It was home. She didn’t need to leave it.

Scarlet spent the next several months living in the cabin. She hadn’t seen the wolf since the first time she had tried to leave which was a relief because something about it didn’t sit right with her. Each day went the same. She would wake up and find no fire in the fireplace then walk outside and try to catch fish or see if she could find other things to eat. Then she would come back to the cabin to find the fire going and fall asleep by it. 

She never wondered about anything anymore. There was no point in wondering. She was comfortable. She was safe. She was home. Everything was perfect.

One day in the summer Scarlet was by the river fishing when she saw something peeking out from the melting snow bank. She felt a strong urge to grab it but she knew she shouldn’t wonder about things. Maybe this time wouldn’t hurt though right? Quickly she grabbed it out of the ground. It was a newspaper. Dated from 4 months ago.

She started to get a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach. It wasn’t until she read the headline that all her memory came back at once:

DOG SLED BREAKS THROUGH RIVER DURING AVALANCHE AT ANNUAL RACE BODY FOUND WASHED UP ON RIVER BANK DEAD

Scarlet's stomach dropped. She remembered everything. She remembered feeling the sting of the icy water across her whole body. She remembered the water filling her lungs as she fought to break the ice above her. She remembered the pain and then the emptiness. The nothing.  

She was dead. Dead and trapped here for the rest of eternity. Trapped with the emptiness. The false comfort of the cabin. The snow that never left. Trapped with the endless nothing. She looked up and went pale. Standing across the river again was the wolf. But this time she could see his face. His dark eyes held her stare again. And she sat there trapped in his gaze. Trapped forever.