My name is Brad, I am 24 years old, I have a good job at the Chevy dealership; Sherry is my girlfriend. She's 22. She works at the dealership as a receptionist, we've been going together for about two years, and we are planning on getting married in June. It's the 20 of May, a day I will never forget. Some of the girls were throwing a bridal shower for Sherry. We are planning on buying a house, as soon as we get back from our honeymoon in the Bahamas. We haven't gone all the way. We were saving ourselves for our honeymoon to have something special between us, like our grandparents who have been married for over sixty years, something that we wanted.
I was across the street form Sherry's house at about eleven PM, waiting for her to come home from her shower, when Tank drove up in his pickup he was the big football jock on campus and has screwed about half of the girls there.
Sherry climbed out of his pickup she was a mess; he's through her panties at her and said, "I'll see you tomorrow," and sped off.
She didn't see me and started for her house. I couldn't see too well it was dark and my eyes were full of tears. After all our waiting and making plans, she let me down. I don't know how she could have done it, a couple of minutes later my phone rang it was Sherry, but I didn't answer. She kept calling me about every five minutes, but there was no way I was going to talk to her, about then my mom started calling, but I didn't answer. I felt like I'd just been run over by a Mack truck and it hurt bad. All I could think of was I had to get away for a while and think, I loaded up all my camping gear most of my outdoor clothing, extra blankets whatever else I thought of at the time, and took off down the road.
I have a three-year old Silverado three-quarter ton four-wheel drive with a Durmax and six-speed Allison. A week and a half later I was in some remote village in the middle of nowhere in Alaska. Most of the people that came to the village were people that live somewhere out in the wilderness. A dirt road led out of town that I followed for about twenty miles until it ran out. I found a small clearing by a stream, and decided to set up camp. I camped out for about a week and decided I had nothing back home for me. Going down to the village, I contacted a real estate agent and ask about the land he said, the land up there was divided into eighty-acre partials. The parcel where I was, was parcel 110, so I bought the eighty acres for $50 an acre. In the city, I bought some lumber and plywood, a generator and a coupled power saws and some hand tools and a chainsaw with about fifty gallons of extra gas and started building a small cabin about 20 x20. Ted my neighbor who became a good friend lived 3 miles down the road and help, usually rode into town with me on trips for supplies, installation, food and a wood stove for heating and cooking a couple of chairs and other furniture that I needed for the cabin. I build three sheds one to put the pickup under, one for not too far from the house for the firewood, one for tools and a meat locker on fifteen foot stilts. The cabin was airtight and insulated very well, with two thermal pane windows. The roof had a 6-10 pitch and I covered it with metal roofing. The cabin was just one large room, in the back of it; I build a loft which extended out about 8 feet, which gave me about 6-foot clearance in the peak, which is where I put my bed.
As winter started to approach I had no idea what I was in for. I talk to my neighbor Ted to let me in on some of the ins and outs of the winter, and we visited each other's maybe once a week. Another family lived down the road about six miles. They were the Hammons, Bill and Sarah they had four children. I usually talk to them on trips to town. During the winters, Ted trapped and said I should do the same. He told me what I would need, and I pick them up on an earlier trip to town.
Now that winter had set in, I didn't realize how nasty it could be the night were dropping down to thirty below. There was no going to town, unless I snowshoe it and that was out of the question. Being snowed in all winners was new and something I haven't counted on. I made a couple of trips with Ted on his trap line and learned what to do, later I started one of my own. I learned a lot that winter, learned to do things that I never thought I would have to do. One thing that was different was not being like able to run down to the market or store to buy things when you needed them; I learned to be very self-reliant, not depending on anyone or needing her anymore. It was hard to get Sherry out of my mind, and maybe I never will. However, trying to survive the winter assume most of my time it was a real learning experience.
One thing I learned especially in the little house out back was you don't touch anything solid or smooth with bare skin when it's cold are you might be "stuck" there for a while.
Somehow I made it through the winter, and spring was coming; things begin to get easier. As the snow melted down, I could go to town when I wanted to. I put in a more supplies and food that I needed and few more things around the cabin. I did pretty well with my furs and some gold I panned from the stream. I did a lot more work on the cabin, fixing it up to be more suitable for the cold weather.
Fall was coming on it wouldn't be long before the snow returned. I smoked about 300 pounds of sockeye. And now that it was freezing at night. I shot a young moose and put about 500 pounds of meat in the locker and made about 100 pounds of smoked jerky.
My conscience got the better of me, and I knew my parents were really worried, not hearing from me for over a year. They still didn't know where I was, so I wrote a letter to them.
Dear mom and dad,
Sorry I haven't been in touch. I know you've been worried about me, but I am okay. The night of the shower I was waiting for Sherry when she got out of Tank's truck.
And he said, "I'll see you tomorrow," and through some of her clothing at her.
She ripped my heart out. I don't know how she could have done it to me with all that we had planned. Anyway, don't worry about me; I'm fine and getting by very well. I'm learned to be by myself, that way nobody will hurt me again. Anyway, don't worry like I said I'm ok. Take care of yourself. I promise I will write more.
Always Brad
Today I mailed the letter probably the last trip to the village this winter; I know it wouldn't be long before I was snowed in again. Eight days later it started to snow.
I worked hard that day, cutting and splitting firewood and went to bed around eight o'clock. The next morning I headed for the outhouse, and on the way back I saw a pickup parked in my driveway and said,
"What the heck."
The windows were all steamed over and frozen on the inside from the condensation of somebody being in their overnight. It was still snowing and had about 2 feet of snow on the ground. It took some effort to wage through the snow to get to the pickup. I knocked on the window waited a little and knocked again. I saw someone steering inside finally getting up off the seat. Sherry opened the door and set there looking at me and all I could see was mad, in her blue eyes.
She climbed out and stood there looking at me, suddenly she swung and hit me in the nose and mouth with everything she had," Damn you."
I still didn't say anything just looked at her with blood running out of my nose and a cut lip. She was shivering really bad from the cold and was not properly dressed for the winter. I told her to come in and get warm; I put some more wood in the stove and gave her a blanket. We didn't say anything, we just stood there looking at each other for about fifteen minutes. I was thinking, gees, she's beautiful; I love her, no, I hate her, after seeing her, I don't know what I meant.
I finally asked her, "What are you doing here," and she slapped me this time.
I told her to sit down I guessed we need to talk; we sat across from each other. It took a while to get the conversation going. We both have a lot of pent-up emotions, finally she said, "You go first."
"I was sitting across the street when you came home and got out of Tank's truck, all messed up," and he said, "I'll see you tomorrow."
And I thought, "Is a shower like a bachelor's party, where they try to line the groom up with a hooker for one last fling."
If looks could have killed I would've been dead.
"You asshole. Why didn't you answer your phone, I needed you? I had a flat tire, and I left my phone at home; Tank came by and offered me a ride. I thought it would be all right I was only a mile away. Two blocks down the street he stopped and tried to rape me, he tore my clothes and beat me really bad. The only thing I could do was grab his nuts and twist, I hope I put him in more pain, than he put me in."
