When She Missed the Ice

She dug a tunnel in the snow, saw the hole in the fence and crawled through into sunshine. That’s all it took, hard work and a few methods of escape. “I’m leaving him in the snow,” she said, slipping out of her ski pants and into cut-offs and a tank top.

That was the easy part. The hard part was actually getting out. She watched on youtube “How to dig a tunnel” followed by “Adjusting to a change of climate: Twelve simple steps”. She didn’t pay attention. She knew the definition of warm.

A few weeks go by and she began to feel bad. Her lover didn’t own ski pants or even a winter jacket. He was ill equipped. The thought of her killing him might kill her.

She threw a snowball over the fence as a goodbye before she left. It’s will be too fucking sunny for any snow soon, but the hole she popped out of was dark. When she peeked into the opening her head banged into a block of ice. She pushed it with her hands, attempted to break it into chunks but it was completely set and stubborn against her. I’m stuck, she thought. The icepick was delivered from the town where she left him.

Enough chances. She drops to her knees when she realizes the solid mass she chipped at could easily be his frozen body. Next, she swings and misses.

Photography © Su Red

Photography © Su Red

Timothy Gager is the author of twelve books of short fiction and poetry. His latest Grand Slams (Big Table Publishing) is his second novel. He’s hosted the successful Dire Literary Series in Cambridge, Massachusetts since 2001 and was the co-founder of Somerville News Writers Festival. He has had over 400 works of fiction and poetry published and of which eleven have been nominated for the Pushcart Prize. His work has been read on National Public Radio.

Su Red is an artist of various mediums, currently residing in the NYC area. You can see more of her work here.