Day 14: "If you don't stop now —"
Everyone knew that Andy had the stupidest, most entertaining stories. Few knew he also had the scariest ones. And he was a natural storyteller, adding colorful personages and romanesque details to it. Sharon both loved them and feared them.
She thought she could handle hearing them, now, sitting in her own home, her friends and family around her. She was a police captain, after all, damn it ! But no, she knew she would have nightmares once again. It was all the psychological angst that did it for her. If she could imagine the scene, feel what the protagonist felt, she was doomed.
So here she was, listening with intent as he told them about that time when his friends and him went fishing in Vermont, back in the days, when he was young and living on the East Coast.
It was January the 27th 1978. My friends and I went ice fishing in this little lake in Vermont. James' grandmother owned a cottage there. It was quite small but had this really nice fireplace and no adults. We planned on spending the weekend drinking and fishing.
That's what we decided to do that afternoon. The 6 of us tried to get into Jeff's old car but with the fishing pole and all, it was just too tight. And we were broke and didn't want to spend money on gas, so Bobby and I took the small motorbike that was in the shed.
We spent an amazing afternoon catching tons of fish. As we got ready to go back, James said he wanted to talk to me. He had just broken up with his girlfriend. We were close to him and I back then… The other ones loaded the car and left. We stayed back fishing until the sun set. We talked a lot, drank a few beers before calling it a day ourselves. We were walking on the lake banks when the ice broke and my feet fell in. Good thing it was only knee deep, I would have drowned otherwise. The water was so cold, there were little millions of needles pricking me. My heart was hammering in my chest. I remember being terrified, for a second. And yet, I did not know what was to come.
James helped me get out. We walked as best as we could to the bike and… It wouldnt start. It just wouldn't start. There I was, my feet frozen, my boots getting more and more rigid as every second passed and the moto was dead. And I thought I would be too. James left, he had to find a way to get help. I couldn't walk anyway, my boots were as hard as a rock. I couldn't get my feet out of it either.
So I sat there, near the bike, in the dead of night, my boots frozen to my feet. His voice dropped an octave, capturing even more his audience's attention. Far away, I could hear wolves howling. A owl passed next to me, nearly eating my head with its wings before it landed on a tree just in front of me. It stayed there, looking at me. It felt like it was weighing my soul looking if I was meant to survive or die. The pain in my feet was atrocious and it slowly spread to the rest of my body. A small wind was blowing the remaining leaves, making the trees crack all around me. I was on alert, I had my knife between my hands, holding it as best as I could despite the cold, ready to stick it into a bear or wolf if needed. I couldn't see a thing. The sky was pitch black, even the stars were hiding behind thick clouds.
"Omg Andy, if you don't stop now…" Interrupted Sharon, getting up from the sofa.
"What if he doesn't?" Asked both Nicole and Rusty, amused. "The Captain won't be able to sleep, again?" Her son joked, earning a grimace from her.
"Well, you know there's a happy ending, Babe: I'm still here, and I just miss a toe." He laughed before looking at his kids and grand-kids, with a tone of conspiracy, he added: "Let's go on the balcony, I'll tell you the rest."