Storms

02 | ice

0 2

ice: frozen water.

❝I cried aloud to the Lord, and he answered me from his holy hill.❞

- Psalm 3:4

present day, North Dakota

THE SNOWSTORM COMES IN A FLURRY of ice, sleet, and hail, leaving no room to imagine the blanket of white that covers the city of Grand Forks as Elliot McKay drives along a one-lane road coated in snow and thick sheets of ice.

The weather forecast had predicted snow that isn't to stop until next Friday, and yet, Elliot can't help but feel angry at the sky as she swerves around another pothole covered in snow. It'd been snowing the entire morning, and Elliot finds herself tired of the frozen rain and frigid weather.

Despite having the heat cranked up in her car, she shivers, pulling the sleeves of her knitted sweater down and watching as the traffic light turns red, slowing the stream of cars in front of her to a complete stop.

Elliot sighs, leaning back in her seat as she turns on the radio, wincing at the rock music that blasts out of her speakers. She turns it off again, then reaches for her phone and plugs it into the speaker, exhaling as her worship playlist begins to play.

She's spent every Sunday at her local church for as long as she can remember, and she's always found it easy, simple, to run to God.

Drumming her fingers against the steering wheel, Elliot hums along to the song currently playing as the cars in front of her finally move along, albeit crawling slowly.

She drives steadily for a few more miles, then slams on the brakes when a car cuts into her lane after pulling out of a nearby driveway, its tires spitting up snow on her windshield. However, the car doesn't make it far—snow catches its tires and leaves them whirring, the car unable to move.

A woman emerges from the vehicle, glances once at the snow-covered tires, and curses loudly, kicking the bumper of her own car. Elliot watches, tapping her foot against the floor of her car impatiently as the woman walks towards her car and raps on her window.

Reluctantly, Elliot lowers it, allowing a blast of icy air to nip at her cheeks. "Sorry, can I help you?" Elliot asks politely.

The woman huffs. "As you can see, my car is stuck up there. I've already called roadside assistance. They should be here any minute now; I just wanted to let you know in case you needed to get somewhere quickly."

Elliot fights the urge to release her pent-up frustration. Everyone on this road is trying to get somewhere—out of this horrendous snowstorm, that is. She sighs and rolls her window back up as the woman treads through the thick snow towards the car behind hers.

Finally, a full-size truck with a yellow light flashing on top and snow tires—something proven useful these past few days—pulls up beside her, and a man steps out of the car in a neon yellow jacket.

She lowers her front window as the man steps up beside her car, and he offers an apologetic smile. "Ma'am, I'm afraid you'll have to pull over." He points towards the car stuck in the snow. "We'll have to tow that car, and the rest of this lane will have to pull over and head to the nearest residents' home."