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Chapter 11 ~ Snow!

It had been just over a week since Elvis had his hair cut.  Elvis had come to really enjoy the new “changes” as Neil called them. He would go on little adventure walks on the mountain every now and then, just to get away for a bit and think. Occasionally he would walk up on a family of deer or raccoons that wouldn’t notice him right away. He loved just watching them, run and play without a care in the world. ‘If only that’s how my life could be.’ Often, Elvis would walk far enough away from the cabin that it would take him a few hours to get back. He had an assured sense of direction, and always left marks on the ground to make sure he could find his way back.

The weather was beginning to get colder and colder as the days progressed. The first snow was expected to have already come and gone, but that was not the case. Not a flake of snow had been seen, though ice was plentiful. Neil had said that a blizzard was supposed to come through any day now, but none of the guys believed him. He had been saying stuff like that for the past month now.

It was on one of these days, a day Elvis considered to be much colder than usual for some reason, he woke up fairly early. Pulling on his favorite pair of boots he had been given, he dressed quickly and grabbed a jacket off the coat rack. He scribbled a note down on a napkin and left it on the table for Nick or Lance to find like they always did. “Going on a walk. Will be gone most of the day.” A blast of freezing cold air hit him as soon as he opened the front door. “Nope. Going to get that toboggan.” He spun around and grabbed his hat off the back of the chair in the living room. His hair had grown out just a little since his buzz cut, and he had let his facial hair grow as well. He looked much like a blonde shaggy mountain man.

Bracing himself for the cold, he pushed through the front door and outside. Maybe it was the cold, or maybe it was the feeling of freedom in his spirit that morning, but he decided he was going to try to walk further than he ever had before. Doubtful that anyone would be on the roads (he’d never seen another human any of the times he’d been on walks before), Elvis decided to follow the winding road for a ways around the mountain before venturing in the denseness of the trees surrounding. He walked and walked. Occasionally he’d pick up a jog to warm his body up. Before long Elvis realized that it was getting pretty late. He could tell by the way the light was fading in the trees. It had become an overcast kind of day since about noon; a kind of signal that he should be heading back since it could start to snow at anytime. Of course, the thought of snow never bothered him, so he didn’t worry about it. Now as it was getting late, he figured he better turn back or he would be left to find his way in the dark. Walking back up the mountain, it began to snow. Elvis smiled. Snow was one of his favorite things back at Graceland. He could just picture the yard all covered in snow from the view of his bedroom window back at Graceland. It was beautiful. He stopped to try and catch a few snowflakes on his tongue. Beginning to walk again, he realized that it was snowing pretty hard. The ground around him began to cover in snow right before his eyes. “Oh no. Oh hell no… Blizzard.” He yelled. He began to run back towards the direction of the cabin. The trail markers he had made on the ground were getting covered in thick white snow. He knew pretty soon he wouldn’t know which way was which. The sky became darker and darker as the snow fell harder. It was nearly dark and his sense of direction was almost completely gone. He stopped to look around. Everyway looked the same. It was no use. Shivering, he regretted not putting on more than one layer of clothing. He knew if he didn’t keep walking he could freeze to death in the cold. Elvis hoped and prayed that Nick and Lance would get worried about him and come to find him.