Popsicle

Can't Feel Anything

Whoooooosh
Drrr, Drrr

As I regained consciousness, my ears were immediately filled with the howls of a blizzard, along with the sound of something being dragged through snow.

I slowly opened my eyes, and once my vision focused after a few seconds, I discovered I was the source of the dragging sound.

I couldn't feel anything. Couldn't move.
I looked beyond my feet at the trail my body left in the snow. It was hard to see into the distance due to the intensity of the blizzard. I wasn't sure how far I'd been dragged.
Even if I could see further it was likely the snow would have covered it all up, as even the one close to my receding feet was quickly being filled up.

It only just occurred to me now to question the identity of the person who was attempting to rescue me.

I tried to move my neck around, hoping to get a glimpse at them. My attempts were futile, and the pain of the effort simply made a groan escape from my lips.
The person must have had really good ears to have heard me within this storm.

The dragging immediately stopped and I was dropped.
With my head on the snow, my face was now pointing towards the obscure grey sky, with wisps of snow flying across.
This monotonous grey scenery was promptly broken by a white furry mass that appeared within my line of sight.
It had blue eyes and a black nose and what appeared to be a wide smile while panting heavily.
It then proceeded to lick my face.

'Hey buddy', I said inside my head.
It was my dog, Minute.
Not minute as relating to time, but rather minute relating to something very small.

I called him Nute, which rhymes with Newt, for short.

Now you might ask, "Why the heck did you name such a big dog that can drag a person Minute??"

Well that's because when I found him, he was a wee pup that barely filled the palm of my hand.

Believe me, I would have chosen a different name if I knew just how massive he'd become.

Nute was happily slobbering my face, no doubt happy that I was alive.
I wished I could pat his head or tell him he was a good boy, but I couldn't move any part of my body. My mouth included.
The saliva on my cheek sent a jolt down my spine. It was the only warm sensation I'd felt in who knows how long.

After a few more rounds of licking, he proceeded to start dragging me by the collar of my coat with his teeth again. The moment he stopped licking, the cold breeze stung the wet areas.
Soon enough, my face was numb again.

As I was dragged along, I started to wonder.
Was there really any point if I even survived this? I'd read and heard nasty stories about hypothermia and frostbite. Even if I were to be defrosted, it was likely my body won't even function as it used to. Or even function again. Heck, my feet could have been in pieces in my boots at that very moment and I wouldn't have known.

'Was this what it felt like to be a popsicle?', I thought.
Sitting in a freezer for so long, feeling nothing, then suddenly being dragged out, stripped naked and consumed.

'Hmmmmm, maybe that's exactly what Nute's trying to do.'
I just so happened to be in a really, really big freezer. He already got a taste when he licked my face.
I wondered what flavour I was.

That made me chuckle. Internally of course. No way could I have laughed out loud in my condition.

These wandering thoughts are what kept me awake. I was afraid the next time I closed my eyes, they might not open anymore.

Probably because the ice would glue them shut. I definitely wasn't dying here today.

At least, I hope I don't...