Short Stories

Alternate Ending to "The Summer People"

It didn't take long for the house to get cold. Once it had, Mr. Allison wrapped his arms around his wife to keep both warm, with blankets wrapped around them. It hardly seemed to be enough with the storm knocking on all the windows and doors and walls, thunder cracked, and wind sped up, rain pattered against the window.

It sounded like a nightmare. Mrs. Allison sobbed quietly, when will the storm go away?

After a few hours, the storm hadn't let up, but they were hungry. They were without kerosene to light a fire for food. They had some fruits and a bit of vegetables, that became their dinner.

Mr. and Mrs. Allison weren't sure how long it's been since the storm came but it hasn't let up any time soon.

"I suppose," Mrs. Allison began when they woke up and they could still hear and see the storm, "That storms last much longer and harsher on the mountain." It seemed to her the logical thing that made sense. Had it been a day? Well, they had managed to go to bed after they had their food, but they had no way of knowing time except for the analog clock on the wall that was three minutes too fast.

"Yes, I suppose so... Hopefully, it will let up soon..." Mr. Allison responded with.

They needed supplies, especially since they had no heat or light. The cars wires were cut, how would they even leave in the first place? How could they contact anyone with the phone's wires being cut? Secretly, Mrs. Allison was worried about her son. She just wanted to hear his voice one last time...

Meanwhile, Mr. Babcock's son came home that night looking mightily proud of himself.

When the Allison's announced that they were staying for another month, the townsfolk had a meeting, you see. It was decided. To show how country folk really are, everyone had a part to play.

Joe, the kerosene man, would go up and tell them that he was short on kerosene and couldn't order more, then cut the phone wires.

The Halls would stay further in town but while they came, they'd cut the car wires.

And Mr. Babcock's son was the one to rewrite the letter and overview what the Allison's were doing.

In short, the Allison's had two options, walk into town and catch the next bus or Mr. Babcock's son would see to it that an accident would happen.

Two days later and the storm had finally let up. Mr. Babcock's son was there every day to see what the Allison's would do.

"Oh, why don't we try going into town today?" Mrs. Allison's voice rang in the kitchen towards the living room, where Mr. Allison sat, the radio not making a sound.

"We can try," Mr. Allison replied. They had little to no supplies for surviving. It's been two days and the storm's hardly let up. It's gotten lighter, there wasn't any more thunder or lightning but there was plenty of rain. Mrs. Allison was sure there would be a flood.

For two days, they've survived on fruits and vegetables, however, since last night, they were out of the food.

Mr. Babcock's son watched as the couple struggled to their feet and struggled out of the house. He imagined they must've felt pretty hungry since they had nothing to eat for today. They were old, they needed food for that energy.

Mr. And Mrs. Allison walked out of the house, Mr. Allison putting on a brave face, suddenly, it was hard to hear, the rain was thick, they had to shout to hear each other, "Only a few miles! We can make it!" Mr. Allison shouted over the rain hopefully.

Mrs. Allison simply nodded, and they began on their adventure.

They kept stumbling and they had a hard time keeping their footing. They were already soaked and cold down to the bone. Mr. Babcock's son watched from the trees, he hardly had to do anything. They've made their choice.

Mr. Babcock's son watched as Mrs. Allison lost her footing, taking Mr. Allison down with her, tumbling down the mountain. There was a muffled crack and Mr. Babcock's son ran over to them. Blood poured on the ground, quickly being washed away by the rain.

Mr. Babcock's son left the scene and walked home. He didn't have too much of a hard time in this storm, he knew how to survive, after all, he's done this many times. Trudged this path many times. He was cold, and shivering, but he was fine and going home to tell the townspeople the news of the Allison's. That they were gone.