Stranded in a holiday snowstorm with a long ago high school crush
Adam always thought of himself as basically an average guy, maybe a little bit taller than most, maybe a little bit smarter, but certainly not a genius or anything like that. He had a decent enough job, a little money and a few friends, but no girlfriend, at least not since Sofia broke up with him four months ago.
It was the night of December 23rd, and he was driving home to Eagle Creek for Christmas. It was where his parents still lived in the house he grew up in. As a single guy who had never been married, he still thought of it as home, even though he hadn't lived there since the summer after his sophomore year. He wished he could have come earlier, but he couldn't get away at work. It would be good to be home. Mom always made her special rolls for the holidays. It made his mouth water just to think about those rolls!
.
A sudden storm was blowing in that night, a big low pressure front dropped down from Canada, hit the mountains and started dumping snow fast and hard. Adam had hoped to beat the storm, but now it looked like he was caught in the worst of it. The road was slow going. It seemed he was just about the only guy stupid enough to be trying to make it through the pass this late in a snowstorm.
Alyssa was driving into town that same night, coming from the same direction, north, over the mountain and through Wraith's pass. It was a narrow, mostly winding road, but 30 miles shorter than taking the long way around. The road was too narrow for truckers. It was just a thin squiggly line on the map. Only locals took it. Alyssa also grew up in Eagle Creek. Now the thirty-two year old prodigal daughter who had traveled the world, but was still single, she was also headed home for Christmas.
Tough going though it was, Adam and Alyssa might have made it if it hadn't been for the tree.
Adam saw it fall right in front of him through his high beams. It was a big one, at least 6 ft across, no way he could move it. They'd probably have to saw through it to clear the road. He started to back up his car to see if he could find a wide place to turn around when he saw headlights coming up behind him. The driver barely stopped in time, almost hitting him. He got out to talk to them.
The other driver was Alyssa Thomas. Out of all the people! Alyssa had been in his grade at school. He recognized her right away. Adam would recognize her anywhere. He'd had a crush on her through graduation, but his affections were never returned. He had confessed his feelings once, awkwardly of course, but at the time she had a boyfriend, and that's as far as it went.
Did she know throughout the years they were in school together that he "carried a torch" for her? They never spoke of it. Adam never made any other plays for her, either. She never gave him the slightest signal that she might be interested. She went through a couple other boyfriends during high school. She was never on the market for long.
There might have been a couple of other contenders in some other guys' minds, but in Adam's mind Alyssa was always the most beautiful, most desirable girl in the whole school, really the whole town, which was, for all practical purposes at the time, his whole world. He wanted her more than anything. He daydreamed about her constantly. He felt completely hopeless when it came to the chances of ever being with her.
So Adam hadn't had any other high school girlfriends. He only wanted Alyssa, and Alyssa was unobtainable.
They'd both gone away to college (different schools) and had barely spoken since high school graduation. He'd run into her at the drug store once when they were both home visiting from school and were out running errands. She said she was majoring in Communications. He was in Engineering. They'd waved a couple times when their cars had passed each other in their small town. That was all the interaction they'd shared.
Despite the limited contact, and despite the fact they were now both 32-years-old, even in the dim light of the darkened road, and with snow falling hard all around them, Adam recognized Alyssa almost immediately.
"Hey Alyssa!" He could see she was startled to be recognized, and she did not yet recognize him. "It's Adam, Adam Franklin."
"Oh Adam!" Clearly she was relieved to encounter someone familiar, even if she hadn't recognized him. "Sorry I didn't recognize you. It's so dark. And oh my God! I almost hit you! What's going on?"
"Just around the corner there's a tree down across the road. A big one. Nobody's getting through there until they can get a crew out to cut it up. I was just backing up to try and find a place to turn around."
"Oh crap! I was just trying to get home for Christmas. Probably you too, huh?"
"Yeah, I thought I could take the short cut and beat the storm. Looks like I guessed wrong."
"Well...that makes two of us. Hey, I saw a mailbox just a little ways back, so there's probably a road. I'll back up, and then you can turn around in front of me and I'll follow you out, OK?"
"Yeah. That sounds good. We'll have to go all the way back to Highway 14. I hope we can make it. It's coming down pretty good now."
"I know! Please stay where you can see me. I don't want to get trapped out here."
"Of course."
"You should probably get out of the snow now. Let's get going!"
They turned around by the mailbox as planned and started to head back north on the road, Adam leading slowly, Alyssa following, but after they'd gone only about a quarter mile. Adam stopped. He could hardly believe it. Another large tree had fallen across the road, this one even bigger than the first. He stopped the car, got out, and walked back to Alyssa.
She rolled down her window as she saw him approach. She could see the tree too, illuminated by their headlights. "Oh my God, Adam! What are we going to do?"
"Do you have cell service? I got nothing."
She checked her phone. "Shit. I've got nothing too."
"Open your door please. I don't want to stand out here in the snow."
"Oh. Of course!" Alyssa unlocked the passenger side door and Adam got in.
"They'll have to clear the road, but I'm not sure how long that will be with a storm like this."
He looked at Alyssa. Even by dashboard lights he could tell she was still gorgeous, and even at a time like this, he couldn't help but notice. He'd had a couple of girlfriends in college, and one fairly serious girlfriend since. He had assumed he left his feelings for Alyssa in the past. He had rarely even thought about her in recent years, but even now, so quickly and under such circumstances, he felt something starting to return.
"What are we gonna do?" She was holding it together, but he thought he could see a little fear creeping in around the edges. Honestly, he was a little afraid too, but he tried not to show it.
"Looks like we might have to spend the night in our cars. Good thing your heater works!" He smiled at her. She returned the smile. "How much gas have you got?"
She looked at the gage. "Uh...under a quarter tank. Maybe more like an eighth. I knew I had enough to get home and figured I'd fill up in town. Do you think that's enough?"
"I don't know. I've got about a quarter too. We should probably stay in the same car, and run only one engine at a time. It'll last longer that way."
"Yeah. That makes sense." They were silent for a few seconds while they each thought about their potentially precarious situation. "It might take longer than a day to clear the road, mightn't it?" she asked.
"Sure seems like a possibility, depending on how bad the storm is and how many other places are affected, how much the crews have to clear...Have you got blankets, any emergency supplies?"
"Not really. I've got my coat. I've got some extra clothes. I've got some Christmas presents in the trunk."
"Any food?"
