Snowbabies Page 4

himself, there seems to be a full blown blizzard coming, and there’s no way anyone would want to be stuck out here. Cody was probably already heading back home.

  The growl came screaming through the air again, closer this time. The hunter put his head down and leaned into the wind. The wind was so strong he could barely move forward, and the snow was coming down so thick and fast the hunter felt like he was drowning in a pool of pure whiteness. The wind felt like a dozen strong hands pushing hard against his entire body. The snow was falling so hard that he couldn’t even make out where the snowmobile was, even though he knew it was right next to him.

  Another loud, mean sounding growl came again, this time so close to the hunter that he staggered to his knees. He lifted his head. The intense swirling snow and ice cold wind was covering everything in total whiteness.

  This time the roaring growl came from directly in front of the hunter. The growl was so loud he winced. He covered his ears with his hands, but even though he was wearing his leather and fur hunting gloves, the growl continued to slice right through his brain.

  Through the whiteness the hunter thought he saw a large shape coming towards him. No, he thought, this isn’t happening, this is only another bad dream. Stay away! he tried to yell, but no words would come out. The snow, the wind, and the growl were deafening. The shape came closer until it was only a few feet in front him. A bear, yes it was, the hunter could clearly see the crisp outline filled in with an ice cold whiteness. The name Frostybear came to him. Was he going crazy? Or was this real?

  One more growl, so loud and terrifying the hunter fell backwards onto the ground. He blinked several times, and he could swear the bear had leaned over him and slapped it’s paws across his face several times. When the paws touched him he felt the most incredible ice cold chill, a coldness that went straight through him and seemed to fill his veins with ice water. The hunter tried to move, tried to yell, but had no energy at all. The bear rose up and with a final growl slowly disappeared, fading backwards into the snow and wind.

  Cody came roaring up to the hunter’s snowmobile a few minutes later. Not seeing the hunter, Cody called out, and when he heard a low moan he jumped off his snowmobile. He ran towards a dark shape lying in the snow and found the hunter lying there with a dazed and far away look on his face.

  Cody cradled the hunter’s head in his hands. “Oh man, what happened? You all alright? Come on, talk to me. It’s Cody, man, I’m here, I’ll help you, come on, say something!”

  The hunter came out of his daze and smiled when he saw Cody’s face. “Hey Cody, that was some blizzard, wasn’t it? Never thought I’d get caught in one way out here. Oh brother, it knocked me down and out for a second. Whew! That was something. Help me up, I’m still feeling a little weak.”

  Cody didn’t say a word, but the hunter clearly saw the puzzled look on Cody’s face.

  “Something wrong? Cody?”

  “Uh … I don’t know … man, what are you talking about? A blizzard? You call these little baby flakes a blizzard? You hit your head or something?”

  The hunter found enough strength to sit up. “What are you talking about? There was a full blown storm not more than five minutes ago. You blind or what? Howling winds and a ton of snow! Hey, wait …” the hunter paused. “Why are you looking at me like that? Something wrong?”

  “No man, nothing’s wrong.” Cody backed away from the hunter.

  “Don’t lie to me Cody. What’s going on? Are you telling me you didn’t just get caught in a blizzard? And where are you going?”

  “I … I gotta get home, man. I’ll see you around,” Cody said, stumbling backwards till he bumped into his snowmobile. A second later he was gone, driving through the snow as fast as he could.

  The hunter watched Cody fade away into the distance.

  “What a weirdo,” the hunter said.

  Saturday Afternoon: Promises, Promises

  The hunter climbed back onto his snowmobile and tried the ignition again. To his surprise the engine started right up. He began the ride back home, noticing how the snow had stopped, and the sky was now cloudless and bright blue. His head was now clear. No dazed feeling at all.

  He couldn’t stop thinking of how Cody had looked at him. And the blizzard. How did Cody miss it? And what about the snowmobile? Wouldn’t start, then the crazy snow and wind come blasting in, then … wait a second … a shape … turning into a bear … Frostybear … it’s paws slapping him in the face …

  Foolish thoughts, go away already, the hunter told himself. Total nonsense. snowbabies? No such thing. Better to think about how he had done it, he had gotten his one shot, instant kill. A fox, a nice one. Sure, no big deal, but to him it proved he really was a true hunter after all.

  When the hunter got back home he went straight to his upstairs bedroom. He put the rifle back in the box and slid it under his bed. Normally at this time on a Saturday he would be eating a big lunch, but he didn’t feel hungry, he felt tired, so he lay down on his bed and closed his eyes.

  About an hour later a loud chattering sound woke him up. He sat up and looked around. It took him a few seconds before he realized the sound was his own teeth chattering. He was shivering so hard it was causing his whole body to shake. He couldn’t understand why he was so cold. The house was nice and warm, his windows were closed, and there was no draft at all. He wrapped himself up in two blankets, but after a few minutes he realized it wasn’t helping. The ice cold chilly feeling seemed to be coming from his cheeks. He softly touched a cheek, and almost cried out when his fingers felt something bumpy. He threw off the blankets and ran to the bathroom.

  What he saw in the mirror shocked him. Each cheek had three raised white lines going straight across. He touched one of the lines and quickly drew his fingers back. The line was pure coldness. It felt like he was touching an ice cube while it was still in the freezer. He looked closer and noticed the lines looked like they could almost be claw marks, they were so evenly spaced. Could it be … Frostybear had swiped his claws across his face …no, this wasn’t real. He had to be imagining what he was seeing. He studied his face closer, and there they were, white icy cold lines clearly showing on his cheeks. This had to be the reason Cody had looked at him so strangely.

  The longer the hunter stood looking in the mirror the more he couldn’t believe what he was looking at. He splashed steaming hot water on his face. Didn’t help. He rubbed the lines with a washcloth dipped in hot water, didn’t matter, the lines were still there, the coldness still making him shiver. The lines truly looked like claw marks made of pure clear ice. The cold chilly feeling got even colder and he shivered so hard he had to hold onto the sink or else he would’ve fallen. He stood there staring into the mirror.

  No matter how hard he tried the hunter couldn’t make sense of what had happened. But it had to be real. He could see it with his own two eyes. Did this have anything to do with the snowbabies? Didn’t the mountain lion warn him that something would happen if he broke his promises? Forget about that, he told himself. These marks are just some kind of weird frostbite that sooner or later will go away. They are not some kind of punishment for breaking a promise.

  The hunter was too cold to want to do anything but wrap himself up in as many blankets as he could and lay on his bed. For about an hour he lay there shaking and shivering until he finally fell asleep.

  He was startled awake when he heard something rattling against his window. He tried to ignore it, but after several sharp rattles in a row he got up and shuffled to the window. He pulled aside his curtain and looked out. His bedroom was in the back of the house, and in the snow covered backyard he saw a small pile of black stones. He squinted and looked harder, and just then something small and hard rattled against the window. He pulled back as several more objects bounced against the window. He looked out again. Dancing around the pile of stones was what looked like a pure white squirrel. The squirrel picked up a stone and threw it up towards his window. The hunter stepped back as the stone bounc
ed off the window. The squirrel kept throwing until the pile was gone. Those aren’t stones, the hunter thought, they’re acorns. The squirrel took one last look at the hunter standing in his window and ran off into the distance. Not far away was a patch of trees. The hunter watched the squirrel scramble up onto one of the trees. The squirrel ran out onto a branch and pointed.

  The hunter felt like he was in some kind of strange dream, but here he was, standing at his window, shivering while being wrapped in several thick blankets, watching a snowy and icy squirrel sitting on a branch. He looked where the squirrel was pointing and what he saw made his mouth open wide. A beaver, the same pure white snowy and icy type as the squirrel, was using it’s large front teeth to chip away at the bottom of a thin elm tree. After a minute of fast and hard chewing the beaver had gotten about halfway through. The hunter watched, wondering again if he was half awake or half dreaming. The beaver kept chipping away until the tree was only seconds from falling over.

  The beaver stopped just when the hunter swore the tree had been chewed all the way through and was ready to come crashing down. What the hunter saw next almost made him cry out. A word made from packed snow and ice: PROMISE. The word was directly in the path of the