Patient Blue

I wake with a start, heavy snow rattles against the walls and windows of the old summer house, never built for conditions like this. Finding my flashlight I shine it on my watch 9.43 am. Even though a vague grey opacity filters through the windows I have to use the torch just to see Rosslynne, still asleep beside me. The weak light illuminates the clouds’ of steam coming from her mouth as she exhales into the frigid air. I am shivering uncontrollably in my thin summer clothes.

I nudge Rosslynne, ‘Roz wake up its morning we have to try to get back to the house.’ She is slow to respond and I worry she may be unconscious and slowly freezing to death.

She finally, after some shaking, responds, ‘what time is it? It’s still dark, can’t we wait till the morning, God I’m cold it’s freezing.’

‘It is morning I think the snow must be covering the windows.’

‘Has it stopped?’

‘I’ll look, but I don’t think so., listen you can hear it’. I leave the bed and walk towards the door, a vicious blast of wind blows it open hard towards me nearly knocking me off of my feet. With difficulty I force it closed as far as I can, leaving a gap of about six inches. Grey snow topples in covering my lower legs and feet and hard driving flakes whipped up by the wind, sting my face. I am able to glimpse the sky which is dark with heavy black clouds obscuring almost completely the weak watery rays of the Sun. Deep drifts of tainted grey, black streaked snow are piled to the roof. There has barely been a Sunrise. The land is cold and hostile, already starting to die under the freezing grey black streaked toxic deposits.Withdrawing its bounty of life from the spoiled ungrateful children who could never imagine it would all end like this.

I close the door as best I can and make my way back to the bed. ‘We can’t leave yet, the storm I’ve never seen anything like it, weird, apocalyptic, dangerous. If we try to leave now I don’t think we would make it back to the house We have to stay in the sleeping bags try to keep warm. There are some apples left but no water, half a bottle of Champagne if we get desperate.’ I find the bottle and give it a shake it is a solid block of bubble infused ice.

‘We can drink the snow if we melt it can’t we?’

‘No I don’t think so It’s not clean it feels gritty like ash and the colour grey with these black streaks, it actually appears to be rather poisonous. Look let’s not panic, this snow can’t go on forever and when it stops we can run to the house. Get back into the sleeping bag and we can keep each other warm and just wait it out. Rosslynne.’

‘Yes?’

‘I love you I’m so glad I found you again, thanks for, for just everything, waiting for me. I sometimes just catch myself looking at you and I feel the luckiest guy in the world, like I’m where I should be and with the only person I should ever be with.’

‘Well if we’re talking revelations, I love you too, thank you I’ve been happy these last few months and I didn’t think I could be ever again.’