As she unlocked the door to the apartment all she could think of was how happy she was that the day was finally over. She had known as soon as she got out of bed this morning that it was going to be a bad one.
"Allow yourself plenty of time to get where you are going this morning," the radio dj had announced "all this rain has wrecked havoc on the morning commute, some tolls are reporting up to 1hour delays."
She should have just rolled over and went back to sleep, but instead she got up and joined the mindless masses moving along the freeways. She got into the office over an hour late, only to find that she was the sole person willing or foolish enough to make it in today. Some days it just doesn’t pay to be loyal.
"10 long hours," she mumbled, "just to make the boss look good, and feed the tax man."
The apartment was strangely quiet as she pushed the door open, a small sliver of light coming from the small den down the hall. He must have gotten home before me, she thought as she walked down the hall.
"Hello?" she asked, but there was no reply. She slowly walked into the den and noticed a small overnight bag on the desk with a note attached.
All you need to bring is in the bag, and all you need to do is trust me.
The car outside will take you to me.
Love always,
Me
She had just finished reading the note when someone knocked on the door. Unsure of herself and not sure what to do, she picked up the bag and ran to the door.
"Yes?"
"Ma’am, my name is Andre and I have been asked to pick you up. Are you ready to leave now" was the reply from behind the door. Her mind raced in an attempt to figure out what was going on. There had been no hints or clues that he had been up to anything. In fact everything had been tragically normal for the last few months.
Slowly she opened the door "Yes, I guess I am ready. Where exactly are we going?"
"Ma’am I am sworn to secrecy. All I am permitted to tell you is that my being here is mentioned in the note" and with that he held out his arm to escort her outside.
What the hell, she thought, I guess there is not harm in playing along.
Andre led her down the walk towards a Jeep Cherokee.
"Not your normal taxi is this?" she asked.
"No ma’am, its all we had available today" he answered.
He opened the rear door to let her and helped her get comfortable.
"There are refreshments in the picnic basket beside you and a pillow under the seat if you wish to rest" he told her as he settled himself into the drivers seat.
As the Jeep pulled away from the curb she tried to question him on their destination. Every question received the same reply,
"Ma’am as I mentioned, I am sworn to secrecy. All I can tell you is to trust me, and enjoy the ride."
Finally admitting defeat, she settled back into her seat. It wasn’t long before the drum of rain on the windshield had her drifting off to sleep.
She awoke with a start, unsure of where she was. Slowly her recollection returned; the note, Andre, the Jeep, falling asleep. As her eyes adjusted to the darkness she began to notice that her surroundings had. Instead of skyscrapers and towers the road was lined with spruce and aspen. Instead of concrete and asphalt the world was covered in a blanket of fresh snow.
"Andre, where are we?"