An Alaskan Midnight

Chapter 8

From that day they realized they couldn't escape, things only went downhill.

Eating together that evening silently, they suddenly heard a crack, and the tree nearby fall. "It must have been too heavy with snow," Brett sighed. "Oh well, at least we have more firewood. And at least it fell at just the right angle for only the branches to fall on the house so the roof doesn't get broken."
Eddy felt nervous and a little guilty when he said firewood. What if his mistake early on cost them dearly?

A few minutes later, everything stopped working. The humming of the heater disappeared. The lights flickered, then stopped their glow. Brett looked up in fear. "The tree must have fallen on the electric box!"
"But... didn't you say all the electricity stuff was underground, to keep from getting damaged from snow?" Eddy asked nervously.

"Yes, but we have to have an electrical box too. And I thought that since the tree was sturdy, and the box was between the tree and house, it would protect it from the elements." He sighed. "Looks like the same thing to protect it destroyed it." Then he stood up. "Well, let's see if I can fix it."

A few minutes later he returned, shivering and disheartened. Eddy set a blanket on his shoulders, truly concerned for his friend.

"It... it didn't work," he whispered. "The box is completely destroyed, and water from the melting snow short circuited all the wires." To Eddy's surprise, the normally strong and tough man collapsed in his arms, desperate.

Eddy didn't know what to do or say, so he just stood there, holding Brett in his arms.

After a few moments, he gained the courage to whisper to the man he was so intimidated by. "It will be alright," he tried to comfort.

Brett pulled away and shook his head. "No, it won't be... we'll need to use firewood from now on. But we can't use any at night, or we won't have enough to last the winter." Then he walked upstairs, Eddy's blanket still in his arms.
Instantly Eddy felt another stab of guilt. What if his laziness kept them from lasting through the winter? For a moment, Eddy considered admitting to Brett what he had done, but one look into his intense, striking eyes silenced him.

He collapsed in the couch, shivering from the lack of heat and his blanket. Slapping himself, he felt that he deserved it. He curled up in a ball, sobbing from the physical and emotional pain.

Soon, he realized attempts at sleep were futile. So he stood up, searching for a pen and paper. Even if he and Lucy couldn't write each other, he determined to write what happened to them every single day, to give to Lucy if they ever met again. He loved her with all his heart, and nothing could stop that.