Here is a little tale about what happens to one woman when she gets cabin fever and heads out for a simple afternoon of skiing. If you enjoy, please vote (and next you are out skiing in the woods and see a little cabin sitting there, you never know who might be waiting inside)!
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Cindy pulled back the curtain and sighed. Still snowing. There had been record snowfall amounts this week, and it didn't look like it was stopping anytime soon. She let the curtain drop back, and lay back on the couch. A serious case of cabin fever was setting in, and she needed to shake out of it. She looked over at the open bag of chips sitting on the table next to her. Yeah, she had to get up and out of here, no matter how bad the roads were.
Thirty minutes later Cindy pulled on her boots, grabbed her hat and gloves, and headed down to the garage. She got her cross-county skis and poles and attached on top of her car. Adrenaline pumped through her at the thought of getting out in the snow. She pulled out of the garage and onto the street. She almost turned right back around a few blocks later. The road was really bad. It had been plowed, but the snow was coming down so hard, they couldn't keep up.
She couldn't help thinking how weird this was. Sure, they got plenty of snow in a normal winter, but something around the amounts coming down this week made her feel like she was in the middle of a fjord in Norway.
She was too stubborn to give up though, to go back home and be a couch potato. So she kept going, slowly and carefully on the wintery roads, but steadily. Cindy lived on the outskirts of town already, so normally to get out of the populated area to some wooded areas, it would only take thirty minutes maximum, but finally, over an hour later, Cindy pulled off onto a side road and stopped.
Cindy stepped out of the car and looked around. It was totally silent. The sugar-covered world around her seemed completely void of life, but it was so beautiful. White covered everything, and since the snowfall seemed to slow for the moment, she could clearly see everything. She shook her head to snap out of her reverie. She came out here to move, not watch snow.
She pulled her skis down and grabbed her poles. She clipped into her skis and dropped her keys in the inside pocket of her jacket, and zipped it up. After adjusting her hat and scarf, and pulling on her gloves and backpack, she was off!
For the next half-hour, Cindy was just going, swishing through the new snow, enjoying the physical activity and her beautiful environment. It was great skiing snow. Finally she thought she needed a small break, and stopped, sticking her poles in the snow, and pulled off her pack. She grabbed out some water and took a long swig. As she drank, she looked around. She didn't recognize the scenery around her, but luckily she could just follow her new tracks back.
She put her bottle back, shouldered the pack, grabbed her poles, and turned herself around to the way she had come. She headed back down the path she had created. Several minutes later she stopped, looking around in confusion. The tracks she was following, the clear tracks she had made in the new snow were gone. There was just plain clean white snow in front of her. How could that be, when it wasn't even snowing anymore, and there was no wind to blow the snow in her path?
She took several deep breaths, trying to hold off the panic, then headed on, figuring she would see something to let her know she was going the right direction. She hadn't gone that far after all -- she must be able to find the road. It was amazing how quickly the world had turned from a winter wonderland, to making her feel like she was trapped in some strange snow globe.
A short while later, she stopped again, breathing heavily. She had been pushing herself harder than she thought. She had been skiing for awhile, and should have been back to the road and her car by now, but she was still in the woods. Just trees and snow surrounded her, nothing to show her the way out of the wilderness.
She pulled off her backpack and made herself drink some more water. She didn't need to get dehydrated in addition to being lost. She put her bottle back and felt her phone. Geez! She totally forgot to check her phone -- the navigation on that should help point her in the right direction! She pulled the phone out and tried to turn it on. Of course her phone was dead, although she could swear it had been fully charged. What kind of luck was she having today! On top of everything else, it was starting to get dark. She put the phone back, and shouldered her pack once more.
The only thing she could do was push on. The beauty around was lost on her now, as confusion and fear started to build. Being lost out in the wilderness during good weather was one thing, but she wasn't prepared for being stranded out in the middle of nowhere in the snow. After several more minutes she stopped suddenly, frowning. She sniffed the air, trying to place the new smell, and found herself laughing. It was smoke -- she could smell a fireplace burning. Relief washed over her, as she looked around her, and then over the trees to her left. She saw a small column of smoke in the distance, and she skied over toward help.
Ten minutes later she came through the trees into a clearing. There was a small, solid-looking log cabin, with a stone fireplace. It was a comforting sign of life. She reached down to click out of her skis and stepped into the snow. Picking up her skis and poles, she headed to the door, and leaned them up against the wall. She reached up to knock on the door, but pulled her hand back at the last second. Who lived way out here in the middle of nowhere? What if it was a crazy hermit who hadn't seen a woman for years?
She shook her head, knowing her imagination was getting the best of her. Besides, what choice did she have? She reached back up and knocked firmly at the door and waited. A few seconds later, she heard the heavy door open, and she looked up and froze.
"Can I help you?" The man standing in the door was well over six feet tall, and from the tight flannel shirt with rolled up sleeves would indicate, he was built out of solid muscle. He had reddish-golden hair that fell to his chin, deep blue eyes, and chiseled features, covered only with a silken looking beard the same color as his hair. He was smiling.
"I, I," Cindy sputtered.
"Are you lost," he asked. He had a slight accent she couldn't quite place.
"Um, yeah, I was skiing and I seemed to have lost my car. And the road." Cindy felt like an idiot.
"C'mon in, you must be freezing," he said, stepping back to make room for her to enter. Suddenly Cindy did feel the cold, and the roaring fire she could see inside looked inviting. Almost in a daze, she felt her feet start to move and the next thing she knew, she was inside, the door shut behind her, and he was helping her with her outerwear.
He hung her coat, hat, and scarf on the wall by the door, and Cindy reached down to untie her boots, and step out of them.
"Why don't you sit down and warm up," the stranger said, indicating a large comfortable-looking worn leather chair in front of the fireplace. Cindy walked over and sank into the soft chair with a sigh. Before she could say anything, he turned around and walked to the other side of the room, where there was a small kitchen. Then he was back just as quickly with a steaming mug, which he handed to her.
She took the mug in her cold hands, feeling the warmth, and inhaled the wonderful scent wafting up from the steam.
"It's just my special hot chocolate," the man said, his voice deep and rumbling. "With a little kick," he added.
Cindy brought the mug to her lips and took a tentative sip. Her eyes closed unconsciously as the liquid chocolate heaven passed her lips. She felt warmth run down the center of her and outward.
