by Brown, Allen
Then it hit us, a virgin mountain, resting below our feet completely untouched.
Climbing to our jump spot near the summit, the sweet fluffy powder glided off our boards. Once we reached our designated jump, I dropped into the snow. I couldn't feel the landing at all, it was as if I landed on a cloud.
Binding himself onto his snowboard, Jake yelled: "Are you guys ready!"
"Did you know that banging your head against the wall burns close to a hundred and fifty calories an hour?" I told them. Jake turned over to me and gave me a look, "Oh god, she's scared again." He said laughing; Raj joined him as they continued to gear up.
"Shut up guys!" Mel scolded them, she crawled to me and shoved on my back, "Why do you always do that... You know they'll laugh at you." She said with a resting smile.
"No idea, I just can't help it." I said with a laugh, "I'm nervous." I snapped the bindings onto my boot and cranked it, tightening around my toes.
"It'll be okay." She said strapping my goggles onto my helmet.
"Yeah, I know, first time terrors right?"
"Right," She said with a laugh, "Hey, Raj you have the flare?"
"Yea buddy, no worries." He said tossing on his back-pack, jumping to his feet, he pulled down his goggles and covered his face with a skull mask.
Clamping the bindings on my other boot, I maneuvered to the edge with Mel. The whiteness of snow ran to the horizon, rocks, trees and crevasses littered our path. It was truly uncharted territory, it was a once in a lifetime run. I didn't know what I was looking for, maybe it was an identity, or maybe I seeked fear. Standing on the edge, I did feel the pressure, the fear swelled like a balloon about to pop.
Fuck it.
Taking the leap of faith, I felt my board bend against the piles of snow, Mel followed closely behind twisting through the terrain. I could feel it... my body could feel it. The low vibrations gnawing at my legs as I scraped against ice, and the cold wind streaming against my cheeks. Everything was gone, the technology, the people, the responsibilities of life, nothing remained up here. It was just me, and my board carving its own path in the world.
It took them a moment, but the guys flew past us at a speed I could never dare. For a second, I saw Jake swerve up a boulder and over a gaping hole in the ground. Landing roughly, snow spewed into the air cascading my view. It was spectacular.
Slithering through the trees, Raj was in front of me while Jake led. It was so quick, all I heard was a snap before Raj started to tumble. I saw his body bend in ways that made me cringe, he rolled for a short distance before he slammed into the tree. The old tree weaved in the air before a massive crack echoed. We watched as it floated in the air like a butterfly, before pounding the floor like a mule on a long journey. Mel and I hurried over to look for Raj, but couldn't make out anything in the cloud of snow.
Combing through the wreckage, we found and pulled Raj out from under some broken debris. He was unconscious, and his body, limp. As we dragged him through the snow, his right leg looked awkward, it was still strapped to his board. Resting him against a tree, Mel removed his board and felt his leg.
"Is it broken?" I asked her, it didn't look right.
"I don't know, looks that way. Fuck!" She said breathing noticeably hard, "Where is Jake?" She said looking forward. The entire forest was clouded with snow, but miraculously we heard his yells. Responding in kind, we sat and waited, if you have ever hiked through three feet of snow with snowboarding gear on, you would know why.
Resting in the grove. Mel sat with Raj whom was propped onto a tree trunk nearby. I sat, watching as the trees took their breaths in unison, weaving with every exhale. I was convinced as a child that trees were responsible for creating wind. I would sit for hours staring at them, my dad would get mad at me for wasting my time. But I found my comfort in it so I didn't care, maybe if he had something similar, he would've been a little happier.
I don't know what it was, but the green peaking from underneath the piles of white gave me a feeling of tranquility, a high almost. Maybe its because the snow hides us from the dirty. It cloaks the impurities by illuminating the silence in a world filled with screeching tires, clicking cell phones and constant barter. Reminding us of a reality that we ignore, the place from once we came, and shall return, bare. Well, until it crumbles under the weight of snow, and starts afresh like the taste of a morning brew.
Jake finally reached, hiking pass me and collapsing beside Raj, exhaling deeply. "Holy... was that a hike or what! I'm pooped." He said seldom, heaving the cold air in, and out with a mist. Minutes go by before Raj slowly woke from his slumber, starting to fidget and mutter words inaudible to us.
Kneeling at his feet, I rested my hand on his boot, "Raj? Can you hear me?" His head bobbed back and forth, remaining restless no matter what we did. Jake held him close, Mel and I simply exchanged looks.
"My leg, I can't feel it." He managed to say reaching forward, Jake held his torso back onto the tree, noticing his pain.
"Don't touch it, bro." Jake said holding him in place. Jake tended to be the most carefree of us, but this time he had such a stern face that if felt almost unnatural. "What happened?" He continued, looking to me for answers.
"He crashed into a tree," I said, "He even took it down." I pointed towards the wreckage. The old remains of the tree were shattered across the ground a few yards ahead of us. Pieces even hung from neighboring branches.
Leaning back to take a peak, "Whatta beast." He said bursting out in laughter, there he goes, I guess some people can't ever be serious.
Raj whimpered a smile at the sound of his laugh, still weaving in and out of his senses. Jake gave Raj a 'highfive' on his hand laying in the snow.
"What do we do now? The chopper doesn't come back for another three hours." Melony said, her arms crossed and held close to her chest. Her face reeked of worry; it was almost a permanent face of hers.
"Nah, Man. It'll be fine. Relax, all we gotta do is pop a flare and they'll find us. That’s why we have em!" Jake said tossing his big thumb into the air with a careless smile.
"But when they come back, they will be at the bottom." I said to him.
"Yeah, so?" Jake asked.
He continued to look at me blankly, even though I gave him a few seconds to think on it, "So they wont see the flare idiot! Its on the other side of the mountain!" I snapped. Both of them jolted to my voice. I began to lose my patience, organization is what keeps me afloat. If I don't have my schedule filled out on my fridge, I would drown in the morning.
"Aight, aight, clam down there Alice." He said raising to his feet, he even pronounced my name - with a harsh 'k' at the end, he tended to tease my Russian heritage when I got edgy.
"Don't call me that." I said firmly.
Raising his brow awkwardly, "Easy, we will do something. Uhh." Jake said looking around for something, "Ah, I got it. We will tie him onto his boards and drag him down the mountain."
"What?! That sounds ridiculous." Mel said throwing her hands into the air as if she gave up on him.
"You got a better idea princess?" He said staring at her with the edge of his eyes, he shook his head, waiting for a response. Something he knew she didn't have.
"Princess? What're you going on about?"
Interrupting them, "Alright easy!" I said, they stared at each other with eyes of hate. "Let's stay focused. We will tie him to the boards and take him down, its the only way I see too. Since he went and broke his leg and all." I continued trying to defuse the situation, I felt like a preschool teacher trying to end a fight among children. The flare between them radiated enough that I swore it melted snow that drifted into their aura.
Hiking through the snow, I felt snow latching onto my boot, making it heavier with each step. Wrestling to keep my board in hand, I started to scrape the ice off the board that began to formulate, a damning thing to do. Reaching to the corner, my arm gave out and the board slipped from my grasp falling back into the snow. It laid on a bed of snow before sliding a f
ew feet away from me.
My mind raced with thought at a million miles per second. Chatter and screams flooded my mind in ways I couldn't understand, they felt too real... and I didn't know how to stop it. Sweat flowed from my brow as I felt winter dance around me, but, an inferno swelling from within. We just wanted to go home. Letting out a yell of frustration, it echoed down the mountain, but it still stood dormant. Unaffected by us.
"Where is his bag?" I heard Mel ask, and it all stopped. Silence. She stood over Raj looking at his shoulder, void of the strap.
Exchanging looks, we argued yet again, trying to push fault on one another. We eventually stopped our bickering and started to comb the forest for the bag. I brushed past the area where he collided with the tree, it was a mess. It looked alien, almost as if the mountain healed itself with the snow that landed, covering the wreckage up completely. Jake and Mel walked apart on both sides of me. We once again let the silence of the mountain sweep between us. It was the beginning of many silences that I would have to deal with, on this particular trip, something that probably aided me in my resolve.
THREE
Jordan
Slamming onto the metal desk, Bill withdrew his hands instantly noticing his flare, "Wait wait wait, hold up. Raj was the only one carrying a flare? Isn't that kinda dumb?" He said to Alice whom started to tremble from the sudden outburst. Cowering similar to a wounded pup, she pulled in on herself hugging her legs.
With her head down, she said: "Well, saying that after the fact is kinda pointless isn't it? Its like yelling at a character in a horror movie," I swear she was a bit condescending when she spoke back. She was definitely a teenager.
“S'cuse me?" Bill said, his face turning a slight red. "Alright, I'm going to take a break, delinquents." He muttered leaving the room.
Alice wore a smile on her face as she watched him go. "You want anything?" I asked, she simply shook her head and turned her attention back to her nails. I got up to leave, but my feet weighed on me as I stood by the door, I hesitated to grab the knob. There was no way I could leave. Not now, not with those words hanging over me. I closed my eyes and saw them re-ignited in my gaze, 'We killed...' in a blistering orange hue. "Alice... What happened to Raj?" I said, turning back to her.
Without hesitation she started, but I could see it in her eyes, those ice cold eyes. She was hiding something. "Once we finished making the sled out of our boards, we started down the mountain. It was a crap job for sure." Alice said maneuvering her hands to show me, "Mel and I held him from above while Jake pulled him down. It was the best way we thought of so he didn't slid all the way down... But, it was about quarter way when it happened..." She said, her voice drifting quieter as her lips began to tremble.
"What?" I said approaching her, "Alice? What happened?"
Tears formulated in her eyes, swelling enough for a single drop to run down her cheek. "We were trying to get past this edge. It was a really narrow pathway you see, everywhere else was blocked by forest. We couldn't pass him through at all, so it was really the only way." She said with a scoff. "We struggled, Jake got upset because he had to hold most of Raj's weight at the bottom. He started to yell while Me and Mel, we tried... but the floor gave out and he slid off the edge and tumbled down the hill." Alice covered her mouth as she gasped playing back the entire scene. "It was so steep, and rough. I couldn't believe it." Taking a moment to wipe the tear off her rosy cheeks, she continued, "Jake was the first one down there, we tried to find him, we couldn't just abandon him. We did try... But... we couldn't. So, we swore to get to the bottom, find the chopper and come back with help." She finished with a determined look, she held her index finger pointing down at the table, pressing so hard her finger turned pale.
"It's okay." I said, reaching for her shoulder, "its okay now, everything will be fine."
"Will you tell his mom?"
"Yeah, I'll have to."
"T-tell her that it was painless. Please, she loves him so."
"I will." I said to her, "I'll be back." I continued before exiting the room. Holding onto the door as I closed it, I couldn't find the reason to move. I couldn't tell you why, but I waited there holding that door closed tightly. It was as if I didn't want what was in there loose. Once I finally recollected myself, I grabbed a fresh cup of brew from the lunch room, and crashed at my desk.
Leaning back in my chair, sipping on the coffee, I read the headline of a file laying my desk. A death case, it happened a few months before. A missing body was found, it was ruled that the victim had been mauled by a bear and died from his wounds in the edge of the city. He was young teen, a mere boy. I thought something was definitely wrong with it, it didn't sit right in my gut, and I am getting the same feeling with this girl. No matter how much I fought it, my eyes found that little black book, it was like a magnet pulling my gaze. That book... be it the truth or fiction, everything gravitated towards it in the room. Even the steam from my coffee pulled in its direction.
I couldn't help it. Picking it up, I flipped right to that page. I made sure that the words I saw were right, and unfortunately there they were, still red. Trailing back a few pages, I found the beginning of the trip, it was right after an entry she wrote about a failed date with a boy. Poor chap, he didn't fair too well.
Day one of trip
This. Is. Awesome!
As I stood on the edge, the wind pushed past me into a world of its own. A blanket of white surrounded me in every direction, resting at the bottom of my feet and upon my shoulders. Looking to the world beneath me, I could feel it, the beat my heart has been drumming to its whole life. It was this very moment that I finally felt the thing inside me speak.
P.s. I cheated, I snuck this in on top of the mountain, I will write something tonight too. Promise.
Day one of trip #Part2
Note to self: Start using hash tags, its cool.
I knew I shouldn't have came on this trip! First of all, Raj got knocked out from a tree and lost our flares, what a dumb ass. THEN! The bastard goes and breaks his leg! We had to fetch him down the mountain. Well, until... It happened so fast, how were we to know? He slid out my hands and he tumbled over the edge. It was horrible, his screams, I could still hear it echoing in my head. We climbed down to searched for him.
Jake and Mel were further away, searching, but I found him... What did I do? I can't believe it... Mel I'm so sorry. Jake, I really am. He was buried under some snow, his face was bloody and motionless. I was too scared to see if he was alive. And I lied to you. I'm sorry I lied, but! I was trying to save us. Yes, I was really trying, we wouldn't make it back to the chopper if we carried him all that way. We were going to come back for him, I swear.
Forgive me?
I hadn't realized I was holding my breath. I flipped through the entire thing reading it all. That little black book slid from my sweaty palms and hit the desk like a brick. Slamming shut, and staying so. My hands were still held out as if I were still holding the book. The weight of it definitely did remained.
She lied! Murderer...
Bracing against the desk, I used everything I had to keep my body from falling into my chair. In that desolate room, nothing but my inner self yelling bloody murder.
"Jordan, get out here! We got lawyers." I heard Debra yell from her desk.
Fuck.
No way in hell they are taking her anywhere. I grabbed my holster and strapped it to my waist and headed out the door. I made my way to Debra, two and a half strides away. "Where are they?" I asked, adjusting my belt.
"There is the one in a brown suit, with a lady, maybe the mother?" She said as she tapped away on her computer, using her two index fingers. She also donned the very long nails, which made it that much more painful to watch.
"Thanks." I said leaving her.
"Yep." She replied with a hoarse voice before breaking into a coughing frenzy. Smokers…
Pulling open the door, I entered the waiting room. He sure looked slick, the fella wore a fine brown suit, with
dark brown shoes and a smile that one could only get from feeding on the weak. These criminals feed themselves by putting murders back on the streets. Then I am the one stuck with explaining to a widow that her husband's fate could have been avoided. I hate the lot of them.
"What can I do for you?" I asked staring at the man in the suit.
Peeling off his chair, "Ah, Constable, finally!" The lawyer said, taking a second to brush off his pants, "These chairs are very... uncomfortable." He continued extending his palm out to me.
My gaze dropped to his hand before firmly resting back between his eyes, "What can I do for you?" I repeated, leaving his hand to fend for themselves.
"Well for one," He started, retreating his hand. "You can hand over my client's daughter into our custody. Unless! You have charged her for something... Which I would find disconcerting."
"There were four, now there is one. I want to know the story, so I can put some parent's hearts to rest." I said rather bluntly.
"Yeah, well. No. I don't think so." He said with a coy smile of shining white teeth. "You aren't allowed to speak with her unless I am present."
"Well, there's nothing I can do about it right now. You may have a seat and wait." I said pointing at the chair he rose from, "she is very tired and is currently napping. Once she wakes, we can both speak to her. Okay?"
"Again, thanks, but no thanks."
"Listen," I said turning to the mother. "Your daughter has gone through a lot, let her rest for a while longer is all I ask. Surely, you agree, as her mother."