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I frowned as I watched Sarah hike next toThere was no way that was true, judging by the truly ied to put on Still though, I hated seeing her like this

I’d known she hated the cold, yet pushed her to co on this trip I had hoped she would have fun, once she got up to the resort and got out on the slopes Besides, I was kind of looking forward to teaching her how to ski

It’d been a while since we’d done anything, just the two of us

Granted, there’d be a bunch of other people around A group ofus up there, plus I’d invited her best friend, Kelly, without telling her I figured it’d be a nice little surprise and ot there

If we got there

I’d just taken the dao and break down in thea blizzard Wasn’t that just my luck?

But there wasn’t much I could do about it now I just hoped there were people at the cabin or at least a phone so we could call for help or so I hadn’t expected to not have cell service I’d been to this lodge before and never had any issues

Once again, I felt like shit I’d planned this trip I’d talked Dad into footing the bill, which hadn’t been all that hard And I’d convinced Sarah that it would be fun And now, here ere, walking to some unknown cabin in a snow storm

“How’re you holding up?” I asked, eyeing Sarah I bitfor her to call me an idiot and a thousand other names

Instead, she just shrugged, the movement barely noticeable beneath all her layers “I’ll be better once we get to this cabin How far back was it?”

“Not far,” I said I wasn’t exactly sure where the cabin had been It’d barely registered onAt that point, it’d just been another part of the scenery

I didn’t stop to consider what I’d do if the cabin was abandoned What other choice did we have, really? Sitting in the car wouldn’t have been much better, since I hadn’t seen any other cars in a while Even before we’d broken down, I hadn’t seen anyone else

I doubted many people came this way Most travelers would’ve taken the main road, rather than this side one Not ulars, would even know this route exists I’d only learned about it two years ago, on a snowboarding trip with the guys

Hopefully someone would come by, and soon I didn’t hate the cold like Sarah did, but neither was I found of freezing my nuts off for no reason At least nor or snowboarding, which kept my mind off how damn cold it was

When the cabin was finally in sight, I had to fight to keep froht that urge She yelled out a “yippie!” before ju up, her hands in the air like a cheerleader

That wasn’t the s when she ca on her ass I putin the snow Her breath caainst me

I knew her heart had to be beating a mile a ot her bearings again After aback at ht red, and I was pretty sure it was only partially because of the cold

“Thanks,” she said at last, her eyes downcast

I grinned, then patted her on the back “No proble a snow bath!”

Sarah gri back toward the cabin Grinning, I followed behind her A small part of me did hope she’d fall into a h at for a few minutes

The cabin seemed deserted as we approached There weren’t any cars nor any footprints That didn’t , I doubted any tracks would be visible for very long So we trudged up as probably the drive way to the front door

I pounded on it a few tih the small cabin When there was no reply or sounds of ain “Anyone in there?” I shouted

Still nothing

I looked over at Sarah and she shrugged I took a deep breath, grasped the door handle, and turned Surprisingly, it opened There ured I inched the door open and peered inside

“Anyone there?” I yelled again, but there was still no movement

Frowning, I pushed the door open to reveal the tiny, one room cabin There wasn’t much in there, but it was definitely e by the amount of dust that had accumulated

Still, it was better than being out in a blizzard, so I walked inside, Sarah following close behind The cabin was sparse, but cozy It was probably a sun rack on the wall That explained why it was eht mind would try and hunt in this weather

“Look around,” I said, glancing back at Sarah “See if you can find anything useful”

It didn’t take long to search the entire place It was only a single room, after all, with a small broom-closet sized bathroom that only had a curtain for privacy The tiny kitchen ell stocked though, assu you liked canned beans of course

I held up two cans and grinned at Sarah “Well, I hope you like chili”

She rolled her eyes and shook her head, then resu over the cabin I wasn’t sure what she expected to find at this point, since it was pretty clear there wasn’t a phone or anything There was nothing even remotely electric in this place Even the stove was a wood-burning one

The cabin would keep us fro to be e Unless the owners randomly decided to come out to their cabin in the middle of a storm, a swift rescue didn’t seem likely

“Nohat?” Sarah asked, hands on her hips?

I shrugged “Well, I guess we hole up here until either solanced out theat the snow still rapidly falling and frowned It didn’t look like it would stop anyti we’d be stuck in this place

I walked over to the small sink and turned it on Thankfully

, it seemed the pipes hadn’t frozen It was like a small miracle, but a welcomed one at that I let it run for a fewit back alht away

“Well, we’ve got water, but it only co”

Sarah snorted and grinned “What did you expect? There’s not even a phone line, much less a hot water heater”

I stuckit so only a small stream continued to flow I hoped that’d keep the pipes fro that see, I was surprised they hadn’t already frozen

I looked beneath the sink and found an old cardboard box Grinning, I pulled it out and set it on the table before ru for afor I quickly wrote HELP in big letters, with STRANDED just below it Once I was done, I held it up for Sarah, s like a kid who’d just won the science fair

“I figure if we put out by the road, et out of this place and not have to risk trying to hike the rest of the way up the mountain”

She pursed her lips, but nodded “It’s better than doing nothing, I suppose What are the chances of so by?”

“Probably not very high, but at least we’re pretty safe in here”

“I guess you’re right” Sarah sighed and looked out theat the falling snow for a n by the road, since this was all your brilliant idea”

Frowning, I nodded She had a point If I wasn’t for e by now, ready to start our vacation Instead, ere stuck our here, with nothing but a dusty cabin and a year’s supply of canned beans