Snowy Adventure - Part 2

 Good morning and happy Friday!

I hope you all have been having a good week. I have. It's been a week of words. No, I haven't talked all week. ;) But I've read, I've helped move and shelf, and rearrange, and sort books, books, and more books. And I've written! On Monday morning a new story idea just hit me out of the blue. I have no idea where the plot came from, but I couldn't get away from it. So I did what most sensible writers who have stacks of unfinished stories do. I wrote the idea down. Only I shared it with a few people who begged for the story. No. I am not going to write this story until I get some other stories finished. That's final. Until that evening. I'd been working on another story (shall remain unmentioned for now) and after getting over 1k written on it, I did decide to write the first scene of the new story since it was already created in my mind. 317 words got written. And the story left me alone on Tuesday. On Wednesday it came tiptoeing back and begging me to write just a little more. So, once again, after I'd written my 1k+ on the other story, I wrote just a bit more. About 100 words this time. And so far, this story has been pretty content to wait. Thankfully! But in spite of being interrupted by this new story, I've managed to get 6k written already. (My goal was 5k for the week.) And I'm hoping I can get 2k more between today and tomorrow.

That's pretty much been my week. I have also gotten to get outside and walk several days this week. So nice! There's chance of snow here tomorrow. We'll see what actually happens. 

Well, this is a bit late, but here's the next part of this story. Enjoy!

 

 Snowy Adventure

Part 2

 

    Micah glanced outside and then looked at his wife. “Call Isaiah, would you? Let him know we may need a search and rescue team. I’ll go out with Candle and maybe we can find Coral without help, but just in case–” He let his sentence die unfinished.
    His wife knew what he meant.
    “And Beth, let the adults know, but don’t let any of them go outside! Tell them to pray. Not one of them is used to this kind of snow.”
    Bethany nodded.
    Having worked as a volunteer with the local search and rescue team for the past two winters, it didn’t take Micah long to get ready. He had his rescue pack that contained a first-aid kit, hot packs, a blanket, matches, and more.
    Just before he stepped outside, Dad came in, his face worried. “Let one of us go with you, Micah.”
    “Sorry Dad. No. None of you are experienced in the snow and it would only slow me down. I have Candle, and I’m hoping she’ll be able to find Coral quickly. You stay here and pray that the snow stops. Oh, and you could check the vehicles just to make sure she’s not hiding in one of them reading.” He smiled slightly trying to ease the worry he knew his dad was feeling.
    Dad nodded and stood silently by as Micah and Candle slipped out into the white world.
    Remembering that he’d seen his younger sister behind the lodge, Micah turned his steps that way. “Come on, Candle. Find Coral. Where did she go?”
    Candle barked and raced around the lodge as though knowing where she was going.
    Micah followed. It was rather easy to follow Coral’s tracks across the open field at first, but the snow continued to fall and the wind was picking up. Time was of an essence. Tipping his head back slightly, Micah squinted into the flakes. They seemed as fine as the grains of sand in an hourglass. “Dear Father,” he prayed aloud, “would You stop the snow for a time? Turn the hourglass on its side and let me find Coral. Please, Father.”
    A crackling noise made Micah reach for the radio he used during rescue missions.
    “Micah, can you read me?”
    “Loud and clear, Isaiah.”
    “The team is standing by. What’s your plan?”
    “Following Coral’s tracks now. If the snow doesn’t stop tracks will be covered and it will be guess work if Candle can’t find her. I’ll give you an update in fifteen.”
    “Roger that. Ten sixty-five.”
    Clipping the radio back to his pack, Micah checked the time on his watch and frowned. If Candle had been let in an hour ago, there was no telling how long Coral had been separated from her. “She’s heading toward the trees.”
    A few minutes later he reached the trees and found to his relief that the snow hadn’t covered her tracks yet.
    “Coral!” His shout seemed to disappear into the silent woods.
    No answer came.
    “All right, Candle,” Micah said, “let’s go find her.”
    Candle started forward, sinking now and then into softer snow but still pressing forward.
    “Pink!” Micah shouted, cupping his hands around his mouth. Still no answer.
    When a quarter of an hour had passed, Micah reported to Isaiah and asked about the weather forecast.
    “Temperatures are supposed to start dropping in a few hours. Five to ten inches of snow expected before tomorrow.”
    That was not what Micah wanted to hear.
    “Do you want the team out?”
    Micah scanned the woods. “No, I can still see her tracks. If the snow doesn’t get any heavier I think I can still follow them.”
    “All right. Report in another fifteen.”
    “Roger that.”
    The tracks began to go uphill and Micah prayed she hadn’t gone far. “Coral!” He tried the nickname he’d used since she was a baby. “Pink!”
    Suddenly, Candle let out a bark and her tail began to wave.
    “Pink!” Micah shouted pushing back his wool hat so he could hear better.
    A faint sound from somewhere to his left but higher up, made Micah turn his head and scan the snowy woods. He couldn’t see anything. “Find her, Candle. Go to Coral!”
    The dog, as though released from an invisible leash, left the tracks and plunged into the unmarked whiteness; her master following. Over fallen logs, through brambles and thorns, around towering pines, Candle went. Her tail waving and her tongue hanging partway from her mouth.
    “Coral!” Micah shouted again.
    This time he could hear her voice. “Here!”
    “Stay there. I’m coming!”
    It took ten minutes for the searching dog to reach the girl. Candle began to bark and whine until Micah joined them.
    “Pink, what were you doing?” Micah asked, seeing his sister sitting beside a pile of snow covered branches under the overhand of a large rock with a book in one hand and a flashlight in the other.

What do you do when a new story idea hits?

How was your week?

Would you go and read in the snow?