Winter Rescue (I'll Be Home for Christmas) by Dawn Kimberly Johnson

Winter Rescue • Dawn Kimberly Johnson

    Winter rescue

    om? Ma!” Fuck!
    Curt Knutzen tossed his cell onto the seat
    “M next to him and squinted out his windshield. He
    frantically swiped his gloved hand through the
    fog building up on the inside of the window, but it returned
    faster than he could rub it off. He checked the defroster
    settings on his rental, trying to find a cure for his poor
    visibility. Beyond the windshield, large heavy snowflakes
    alternated between drifting down and racing by sideways.
    Shit! Three years . Haven’t been home in three years, and
    this shit happens.
    The back of the car suddenly lurched to the right—
    stopping Curt’s breath—but he quickly compensated and
    straightened the car out. As his heart returned to a more
    normal beat, he tried to relax his grip on the wheel. He rolled
    and stretched his neck, trying to ease the tension building
    up in his shoulders. A blast of wind slammed into the car,
    and he gasped.
    His hand was shaking as he turned up the radio: “ It’s
    negative nineteen degrees . Plows are out in force, folks, so it’s
    best to do as the governor said and stay off the roads. The
    storm’s expected to be over before morning, then we can all
    start digging out. You know the drill .”
    2

    Winter Rescue • Dawn Kimberly Johnson

    Fucking Minnesota , Curt thought. Three years ago he
    moved away to sunnier climes. No matter how breathtaking
    the state was during its more mild seasons, winter just put it
    in the toilet as far as he was concerned. With his family so
    unnerved by his coming out, relocating seemed like a good
    idea at the time. His younger sister, Arianna, had been fine
    with it—and probably had always suspected—but the rest of
    the family had come unglued, his father shouting, his
    mother crying and shouting, his brothers staring wide-eyed
    as if they were looking at some creature from outer space
    instead of their baby brother.
    So he headed off to San Diego, escaping the snow and
    family drama but finding plenty of sunshine, hard tanned
    bodies, and his IT manager position at Spright, Middlesex,
    and Blithe, a monolith of a law firm in the state. Curt
    shivered. He hadn’t counted on how badly he would miss the
    folks, his siblings, their big family dinners, the laughter—
    though there hadn’t been much laughter after his
    announcement. He carefully slowed the car and leaned
    forward over the wheel to try to read a highway sign, then
    sighed. Just another hour or so, and I’ll be warm. I’ll be home .
    A mound of snow-covered something suddenly loomed,
    filling his field of vision—tiny as it was—and Curt slammed
    on his brakes, but the car didn’t stop. He hit whatever it
    was, and the car bounced off, sliding backward, off the road,
    and coming to rest at an odd angle, headlights pointed at the
    sky.
    For several heart-pounding moments, Curt sat very still,
    watching in horror as the headlights gradually grew dim
    3

    Winter Rescue • Dawn Kimberly Johnson

    from the accumulating snow. The interior was dark except
    for his dashboard display, but Curt unbuckled his belt and
    reached for the glove box, fumbling it open. A state map,
    flashlight, and a couple batteries fell out and into the
    passenger seat.
    He quickly loaded the batteries into the flashlight and
    turned it on, finding the brighter light strangely comforting.
    He looked around the interior of the car and saw the
    windows were already covered. He’d never been
    claustrophobic, but this situation might just cure him of that
    immunity. He switched off the flashlight to save the batteries
    (how long had they been in that glove box?) and tried to stop
    panting.
    Okay. I’m okay. But the car’s on its tail and running,
    which means what… it means something…. Curt shut his
    eyes to think more clearly because, for some reason, staring
    into the dark was more unsettling than closing his eyes. He
    thought of working in the darkroom in junior high school
    and how much