Joanna
The spring sun had melted the ice from the tree
trunks and the roof of the outhouse. Pearl-like-droplets fell down to
the lingering snow, creating tiny holes in it. In the air, there was
a smell of sandy ground of the driveway peeking through the melting
snow, and the smell of water gathering in its potholes. The sun was
shining low in the orange morning sky and it warmed up the
light-green walls of the house. The dark-green paint on the window
frames was pattering. I put a thermos bottle filled with hot coffee
in my backpack alongside the red
stripes of cloth, I could tie those to the trees so I would find my
way back home. The kitchen smelled of bacon I had made for breakfast,
oranges and peaches and fresh coffee. I put on my light-brown quilted
overalls, a red scarf and a knit cap and after that I jumped into my
old, discolored ski boots. The skis themselves were waiting outside,
leaning against the wall.
The snow in the field was too soft and fragile.
However, in the thick pine forest the trees covered the snow from
sunlight and I would still be able to ski there. My breath was warm
and swirled in to the cold air in circles. I looked straight at the
sun and squinted my eyes. I would have no more than couple of hours
before the sunset and the dark. After that the temperature would drop
quickly and I should get back immediately.
We had moved into the estate recently. I had not
had the time to get familiar with the surrounding nature yet. I had
read though, that there were ancient caves from the time before the
ice age as well as some stone age caverns just nearby the house. John
was in the city with the children so I had free-time to myself. I was
planning to find the caves. I was satisfied with myself for I had
remembered to take the red cloths with me, that way I could not get
lost. I had taken a hammer and some nails too, to attach them to the
trees with.
After some time, the sun started to set behind the
tree trunks and it got colder. The freezing wind from the north
started to rise and I turned around. I had not found anything and
felt bad about it. During the last kilometer the forest had gotten
thicker and darker. I tried to make out the red piece of cloth I had
lastly nailed to a tree but it was too dark. I pushed myself with
the ski
poles and rushed forward. Suddenly,
I felt the snow under me caving in. I screamed in panic as I fell,
the skis scraped against the stone. It felt like a long fall before I
got painfully stuck in a narrowing shaft between two rocks.
The skis had broken into pieces, my other leg was
twisted so that I could see the bone sticking out from my knee. I was
hyperventilating and it only made me sink deeper into the tight gap.
I cried and screamed but no one could hear me. Eventually, my voice
was only a raspy whisper and I tried to calm down. A sharp pain was
cutting through my sides and my shoulder.
Oh dear God, I
thought. There would be no one coming after me for days since no one
knew about my little trip and John and the kids would not be home
before Sunday. The crippling panic made the hot tears run into my
cheeks again and again. How could I ever survive. I looked up as much
as I could move my neck and saw how the huge rock grew above me
towards the night sky and its stars. I was cold, so cold. I would not
make it with my injuries, I knew that, and I could not climb up, I
had fell at least couple of meters.
I lowered my
head. I was shaking. I did not know whether it was due to the fear or
the cold. My breath turned white around me and I felt a pressure
against my sides. What about my intestines? I was sure, I had broken
a few ribs. How
long I
would
last in this condition? I had nothing to eat or drink as my backpack
had fallen even further down and I could not reach it.
Then I heard
something: a rustling, a crack. I breathed quietly and listened. Was
it a human or an animal? Suddenly, dark figures emerged above me.
Wolves? I was trembling and staring at them. The animals circled
around the shaft, they could smell my scent. Luckily, I was too far
down for them to reach me. I started sobbing softly.
“Oh, if only
you could help me.” I got only a low growl for an answer.
After a while,
the animals gave up and left. I felt even more lonesome. My head was
throbbing and I feared that I was losing consciousness. It started
snowing. Soft snowflakes fell on my face. I heard noises again. This
time, they sounded like footsteps.
“Is there
someone? Help!”
No answer. Then a
shadow appeared above me. I sighed in disbelief.
“HELP! HELP ME,
PLEASE!”
John
Joanna had not
called me since Friday
and I
was
worried.
After we got home, I immediately noticed that something was not
right. The skis were missing. From that I figured out that Joanna had
gone to the forest to find those ancient caves she had talked to me
about several days earlier.
My instinct was
telling me something was wrong. I called to my parents who came to
watch the children, and then I left to look for my wife. Joanna’s
trail was easy to follow as she had nailed pieces of red cloth in to
the trees to mark the way. My
clever girl.
Time went by and
the sun was setting. The red cloths stopped. After that, I picked a
direction and walked forward for 15 minutes. I found nothing. Then I
got back to the last red mark and picked another direction, repeated
the procedure but nothing again. The third time would be the last as
I should already be getting back to the house.
My feet were getting tired of walking in the snow.
I had frostbites on my face. Suddenly, I stopped. I could see
something ahead. A figure? I started making towards it in a fast pace
but as I got closer my eyes grew lager. I sighed in terror. Between
two big pine trees was a woman tied up in an x-position.
“Joan...”
Joanna was covered in blood, her clothes were
torn, her skin white as the snow. Along the lifeless body there were
huge cut marks as if an animal had clawed her stomach open. The
intestines were missing. The snow under her had turned red. I felt
like I was going to faint. I dropped
to my knees.
I was breathing rapidly and the air turned white
around me. I did not know where the sky was and were the ground,
everything was spinning. I tried to calm down, to look up, to hold my
breath. Above the trees a pale full moon was shining and somewhere
far away wolves begun to howl.
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