Thursday, January 15, 2009

The Ice Storm


It didn’t feel that cold. I mean it was clearly below freezing; my breath was misting and the walkway was glazed in uneven ice, but what I’m trying to say is it looked even colder than it felt. It was unusually quiet; I guess not many people had ventured out yet. The birch tree across the way had turned to glass and was drooping towards the pavement under its new weight; it’s every limb a tube of ice. Nearby a glass skirt of icicle fronds hung from the bumper of my car.

My shoes slithered as I moved towards the car, the icy surface feeling like a tray of marbles beneath me. Mercifully, the car unlocked at the press of the key fob. Setting my feet as best I could I pulled on the driver's door, it opened with a loud crack.

Inside the car it was darker than usual. The heavy icing gave the appearance of frosted glass making it feel like a surreal shower cubicle. I started the engine and waited for the car to start warming up.

Sitting in the frosted cocoon just waiting was pretty dull. I looked at the window next to me, then at the button to make it open, then back at the window and back at the button. Was there any point even trying I wondered? Well, I could always just let go of the button if it didn’t move. What the hell, go on! I pressed the window button and was surprised to see the window beside me descended smoothly leaving a whole pane of ice still intact and in its place.

I looked at the ice pane and admired nature. Then I swung my jacketed forearm towards the ice. As my arm hit the sheet it broke with a sound very like breaking glass. Several large pieces fell onto the frozen tarmac below, tinkling and sparkling as they became a thousand smaller pieces. This was awesome!

For the next two minutes I leapt from window to window inside the car smashing the sheets of ice. The passenger side I punched out with my gloved hands. The back right window was my elbow and forearm and in true Hollywood style I kicked out the last window. Despite a small shock when some of the shards fell into my trousers on that last window, I still found myself grinning like the fool I am.

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Bazza

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