SABIS the SURVIVOR

Chapter 3: Gadi's Desire

Chapter 3: Gadi's Desire

Despite poking away at the ice for what seemed like a long time, my lower half remained submerged in the icy undercurrent. My reflection revealed purplish lips and pale skin, similar to a sheet of white paper. All of the blood must have left my face and gone to warm my insides. Fending off a maelstrom of fading hopes and rising despair, I seized control of my mind and willed it to battle on. Suddenly, I heard a roar from higher in the hills. As the roar approached, my ears were filled with the echoes of cascades of mountain run-off as they bulldozed their way down the narrow mountain pass towards me.

As the deafening torrent neared, I realized that all of these forces ꟷ the ice, the sun, the wind, and my own will, were all connected. Therefore, I did not have to struggle anymore to survive this situation. It was not them against me. I did not have to overcome some malevolent force. I needed to embrace the natural forces that had been set in motion, use them to my advantage, and extricate myself with their help.

Braving the extremely cold temperature, I wriggled free of my light nylon jacket and held it just behind my head so that the powerful wind gusts shaped it into a makeshift parachute. The wind speed accelerated as the torrent of rushing water hurtled down and over me. I held my breath and concentrated my strength on reaching high above my head to catch all of the wind and water that I could. My shoulder joints creaked and stretched as the wind and water pulled my jacket-parachute higher and higher until my body came loose from its icy prison. I was free to live my life again.

Now I had another problem. My lower body's temperature had plummeted while being submerged in the icy bath. At any moment, if the ice in my veins reached my heart, the cold could stop my heart. So I tied my nylon jacket tightly around my lower belly so that it acted as a tourniquet. Or at least a partial tourniquet. I remained still for a while to catch my breath and to let the low-lying sun dry me off.

By this time, the ice had stopped falling. Whatever had already fallen was now melting and running away downhill to form another Polar Bear splash park. At least some living creatures might benefit from this climatic upheaval. As the water coursed down the narrow pass that I had already negotiated, I felt my heart twitch and thud unusually. Was I going to die? Would I ever see my family again?

As I lay on the moist ground, I felt the vibrations of the water coursing and the ice melting. I also sensed the wind pushing me. I could also hear the cries of the skyward souls as they left their physical earthly shells.

My Mother knew that I would be in peril from the moment that the storm had blown in. Mothers always seem to know what is best for their children. My Mother had given me everything and I had left her. But I would not repeat that error. I would pledge myself to my new Mother. Mother Earth.

It was at that moment that I decided to pick myself up and survive. I would survive for myself, for my wife and children, to honour my family history, and to help rebuild what was lost in the ice storm and the floods.

On my way to the rendezvous point, I witnessed how the global upheaval added insult to injury by re-freezing the ground where all of the water had seeped into. Any surviving fir and conifer trees had their roots frozen and cracked by the permafrost. It was only many years later when I discovered that human survivors were scattered in various regions of the planet where geothermal vents and volcanic eruptions continued to spew magma and steam. These 'hot zones', located at the continental divides, allowed pockets of technology-deprived humans and other mammals, as well as some flora to survive. But the below-zero winds were circulating and it was only a matter of time before we, the survivors, would have to seek shelter below ground. Could I lead them?