Posted by Night Manager on August 29, 2008 at 3:00pm
WINTER GHOST p5The SHADOWThe storm comes on again like an explosion as I turn and leap off of the steps. It’s so strong… pushes me sideways and we almost fall. It’s so loud that I can’t hear if the door opens behind us.I don’t look back.The deep snow pulls at my pumping legs but the storm wind pushes at me from behind. I don’t dare turn. Just run. Keep running. Don’t drop her.The twin bushes rise up ahead of me, still whipsawing snow all about; the wind seems to want to pull them from the ground. I duck between them praying to make it before…Snow pelts me in the eyes, sharp dry branches scratch at my cheeks, pulls at my hat and snags at my jacket like hard little fingers. I bunch my shoulders and pull her closer to me just as large clumps of snow drops onto us.Don’t stop.The towering bush on the left swings hard just as we’re out and smacks into my back. I take hurried, long awkward steps to keep my balance.Don’t fall.My fingers dig deep into her shoulder and thigh as her swaying weight threatens to pull her from me.Don’t let her go.The snow in front of me suddenly drops off and down a second set of steps leading to the street. There’s a crash behind me; maybe it’ the twin bushes smacking into each other? I leap off the steps but can’t help but turn to look over my shoulder. Everything’s a blur. The swinging bushes fight a furious battle behind a cloud of snow.My feet sink into snow then hit a hard concrete edge beneath. Off balance we fall tumbling down the rest of the steps. I twist hard, desperate not to let her fall first into the snow. But it’s too deep and even as I go down I know we’ll both be covered.We dig a wide furrow out of the snow. I kick helplessly for a second, floundering away from the bottom of the steps, unwilling to take my hands off of her for second even to push myself to my feet. Snow is wedged inside my collar, slipping inside and sliding down my back.The wind howls again and I look up. The snow seems to fall even thicker now, still swirling in every possible direction as the storm attacks from all angles. I can’t even see the twin bushes anymore… they were just behind us… at the top of the steps.A dark shadow looms where the twin bushes had been, swaying back and forth as though peering through the storm. Just a bit darker than the sky, it is and wide as a car there’s too much snow to see it clearly.It’s just the shadow of the bushes, right? … it only looks like one big shadow from where we are.Ung! I pull us up out of the snow but I stay in a crouch. Not for one second do I take my eyes off of that shadow. It’s just the bushes…It sways toward us, leaning in our direction. I’m don’t move or even breath. Then as the wind shifts it leans away. It was the wind that moved it. It’s just the bushes. It’s just…The shadow moves down the slope of snow covering the steps. My legs tense, my arms shake and my aching lungs beg for me to open my mouth. It takes forever and no time at all for the shadow to reach the bottom… just a few feet away. It’s standing over us still as indistinct as it had been at the top of the steps. But…… it’s still leaning away.It shutters suddenly and I almost scream. Then it disappears in a flash, moving off in the other direction. Growing faint against snow falling so thick it’s like fog.How hadn’t it seen us?Simple… I look down to see that the storm has covered us in a blanket of snow just that fast. Only our heads, my knees… bits of her nightgown stick out. But not for long if I don’t get us moving.How long before it comes back?
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