Inspired by: Christmas Interrupted
Original Version Written by Rarmons
AN: With the permission and blessing of the author Rarmons, I have come up with a variation of his original story.
Hope you like it and Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays
~Wednesday, December 23, 2009~
It was two days to Christmas and the snow had just started falling like crazy. Even with the music on my mother, Danielle Steele (yes she heard all the jokes when she got married) and I could hear the snow crunching under our tires. Not to mention the snow that was more than likely in the wheel well of our new red Honda Pilot. Normally either my mother or father drove to the cabin but this year my father wasn't with us as he had a last-minute meeting at work so he was coming down in his car later. My mother was in the passenger seat at this time because she had a headache and didn't want to risk getting into an accident. The snow came on just before our last rest stop so she actually allowed me to drive the last leg of our six-hour trek to the cabin.
The long, winding road to the cabin was already covered with several inches of snow so I had the SUV in four-wheel drive and taking things very slow as visibility was becoming an issue. Large wet heavy snowflakes were crashing down onto the windshield and the poor windshield wipers slowly moved back and forth under the weight of the heavy wet snow. It was tough for the wipers to keep up with the sheer volume of snowflakes. At times they had a hard time moving, almost bending like twigs in the wind. Mom had turned on the radio when the sky opened up and dropped this stuff on us and we were informed that a blizzard thought to be hitting further up north had shifted and landed right in our area. If I hadn't known we were in Colorado, my best guess would have been that we were at the north pole.
My family has been coming here for Christmas for the last ten years. My family consists of my parents, my older sister, and myself. As I said, my mother's name is Danielle and she is a stay-at-home mother. My father Roger is a big-time businessman. My sister Janie is a sophomore at the University of Boulder. My name is Bryan and I am an 18-year-old senior in high school. The cabin was ranch style with two bedrooms on each end (each with a shared full bathroom), a full-sized kitchen toward the left center of the house, the living room with a real working fireplace in the center, and the dining area to the center-right.
The cabin was a stone's throw away from the lake. My father's family has been coming to this part of Colorado for ages. My family rents this place during spring break, a few weeks during the summer, and Christmas for a long weekend. Dad called us as he was leaving the office on his way to pick up my older sister, Janie, at the airport on the way to the cabin. Mom warned him about the (at the time) possible storm and told him to drive carefully.
Taking my eyes off the road for just a moment I looked over at my mother. I could tell by the death grip my mom had on the center console between our seats that she was extremely uneasy. It's not that I was driving erratically, as I said, I was taking things slowly but as she was not in control (for once) she had to watch as a passenger as her son traversed the snowy landscape.
For the record, I didn't take any offense to this as she does most of the driving on trips so it is hard to relegate control, especially in a winter storm. My mother exhaled a heavy sigh of relief when I finally pulled off to the side where vehicles parked for the cabin.
"Thank god." My mother says as she sees the cabin through the snow and a cloud of smoke is already coming from the cabin's fireplace. "The housekeeper must have started the fire before she left." My mother says happily.
I think it must have been at some point in time before the storm hit as I can't see any footprints or tire tracks in the thick blanket of snow covering the area around the cabin. Opening the door to the car was like stepping into a different world. Gone was the toasty warm interior, replaced by a frozen wasteland. Stepping out of the car, my foot sunk to the middle of my calf. I stand at 5 feet 10 inches tall and while I have seen quite a bit of snow in my life, I can't remember ever seeing this much after just the first snowfall. I sent my mom ahead to make sure the water was on and hot, and that the roaring fire had enough wood while I began bringing in the supplies.
Once she checked everything was up and running, my mother met me halfway during my third trip back from the car and took the bags of food from me so that I could go get our luggage. Once the bags are out of the SUV I remotely shut the trunk, locked the car, and carried the bags to the cabin. Mom tells me we are going to need a load of wood from the storage shed on the right side of the house. Knowing how cold it is outside right now I get a double load (so I don't have to make another trip any time soon) once I am inside the house my mother shuts the door to reheat the central area of the cabin. I stack the wood in the wood storage space near the pantry but take two nice-sized pieces and toss them on the fire, just in case.
After our treks outside my mother and I look like we are snow people. My mother's shoulder-length red hair is almost completely white as is my Chestnut brown hair. Mom and I divested ourselves of our winter wear, putting them on a chair in front of the fireplace. Mom had laid out two garbage bags and placed the chairs on them so any water would fall onto them and eventually evaporate. She then made her way to the Master bedroom with her luggage. She was gone a short time and when she came back she had changed into a pair of sweatpants and a nightshirt.
"Bryan, go change into your sweats so we can dry off our wet pants." Mom insists.
Having put all the supplies away I took my mom's advice and departed for the right side of the house choosing the room at the backside of the house. When I returned mom told me that we had enough food for four people for a week. As we would only be staying until the 27th (4 days) there wasn't any danger of running out of any necessities. There is a large bottled water dispenser in the kitchen and mom tells me to go get a new bottle as she just drained the last of the current jug. There are three jugs in the pantry and I collect the closest and carry it in and replace the empty one.
Dad told me that when he was 12 one year the waterline froze and they had to melt down buckets of snow for water. I can't imagine that was a lot of fun so the owners put this in just to be safe. That of course did not stop mother nature from throwing a wrench into our gears in the form of the biggest snowstorm in the history of Ashbrooke.
"Well... despite the storm we have power, water, and even the wi-fi is still working."
"Hallelujah," I say happily. After the last hour, I am ready to plop down on the couch and veg out. Mom wraps her arms in front of her breasts and looks out the window hoping to see my father's car.
"Mom, why don't you go take a shower? I know you jumped right into your sweats to come to help me with the supplies. Go... get washed up. You'll feel better." I insist.
"Are you sure?" She asks looking away from the window and back to me.
"Yes... go."
"Well, I guess it will take your father and sister a while so I guess I have time to take a shower."
I sat down on the couch, and pulling out my laptop began working on a personal project of mine. I am so in my own little world I lose track of time until my mother makes her way back out to tell me that I can have my turn. I close up my laptop and place it on the stand. I kiss my mom on the cheek and make my way to my bathroom.
