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A Change in the Weather

Sam looked up from the trail and noticed the glimmer of sky through the trees to his left. He breathed in the clean, cool air and felt his heart swell. He stopped for a minute to take in the view.

He was ahead of the group. Dara, the guide, had said he could lead the way. He wondered how far behind the others were. Then Sam heard footsteps behind him. When he turned around, he saw Anushree catching up to him. She was singing to herself, shattering the tranquil silence.

‘Wow, I love autumn hiking! It’s so pretty. And no mosquitoes,’ she said.

‘Too cold for mosquitoes,’ Sam replied matter-of-factly. ‘It’s going to get really cold above the tree line. You sure you’re ready for that?’

‘Yep, I have all my winter gear in my backpack.’

‘I hope so,’ Sam muttered under his breath. He spotted a trail marker and headed for it.

About an hour later, Sam and Anushree reached the top of the mountain, where they were supposed to wait. They had been scrambling over rocks and boulders for the past half an hour, concentrating on the trail markers. Anushree took off her backpack with a happy sigh. They waited. After a while, a few snowflakes began to fall, and grey clouds gathered to the west. Sam looked out at the view.

‘That’s weird. They must be really far behind,’ said Anushree. She squinted back down the trail, but there was no one coming.

Then a gust of cold wind and snow rushed over them.

Sam was a little uneasy. Maybe he shouldn’t have hiked so fast, he realised. He put on his hat, gloves and waterproof trousers. Then he checked his phone. There was no signal. He looked at Anushree. ‘Do you have signal?’ 

Anushree shook her head. ‘Maybe they stopped for lunch.’ She shrugged. ‘Anyway, I’m hungry. Let’s go ahead and eat.’ 

Sam and Anushree found a rock and hunched beside it to avoid the wind. Sam ate quickly, barely tasting his sandwich. By the time he was done, his hands were numb from the cold. The sky was getting dark. He checked his phone again, but to no avail. It was getting late. 

Then they heard Dara’s voice in the distance. She was calling them. ‘Sam! Anushree!’

Sam looked down the trail and saw Dara waving.

‘Come down!’ she yelled. ‘Be careful!’

The rocks and boulders were slippery and treacherous. Sam and Anushree climbed down slowly. Sam was shaking, and his legs felt like jelly by the time they reached Dara.

‘So, there’s a storm on the way,’ said Dara. ‘I sent the rest of the group back down the mountain with Mrs Santos a little while ago. You were too far ahead! It’s too dangerous to hike in this, so we’ll head to a rangers’ cabin.’

Anushree and Sam followed Dara. Sam couldn’t help but think he was to blame for the whole predicament. By the time they got to the cabin, it was snowing hard. They entered the cabin and shed their backpacks. The cabin was cold and dark, but they were out of the storm.

‘Brrr!’ Dara said, clapping her hands together. Then she nodded towards the fireplace. ‘Let’s get this fire going!’ Sam and Anushree started carrying logs in from outside.

Sam put down an armload of logs while Dara lit the lanterns in the cabin. It was bright and warm now.

Anushree was calmly humming to herself as she started to unpack her bag. Sam looked at her in disbelief. His own hands were shaking and his heart was racing.

She smiled at him. ‘Do you want to play blackjack or Crazy Eights? I brought cards.’

Sam felt himself relax. ‘Yeah, okay. Blackjack,’ Sam said. ‘It was a good idea to bring playing cards,’ he added.