I Waited on the Melting Snow While They Sang Her Birthday Song Chapter 04

By three that afternoon, a strip of black rock had emerged through the snow in the middle of the trail.

My boots had grown so loose they barely stayed on my feet.

I sat down and tied them tighter with my scarf. When I stood again, half of one pant leg felt almost weightless, as though there was nothing left inside.

Lily sent a group photo from lunch.

Graham was carefully removing the bones from her fish.

Elliot held up a hand to keep the camera from catching her mid-bite.

Miles was holding a napkin, ready to hand it to her as soon as she turned around.

When the three boys had been trapped in a snow cave as children, they’d huddled together just like that.

When I found them, the first thing Graham asked wasn’t how I planned to get them out. Instead, he asked, “Are you cold?”

Back then, I couldn’t feel the cold.

Now I could.

At four, Elliot sent me a message.

Elliot: [Have you come down yet? There’s a candy shop by the beach selling little candies shaped like snowcapped mountains. I’ll bring you a box.]

Me: [No. I’m still at the start of the last snow-covered stretch of the trail.]

He called immediately.

“You’re still there? Nora, we really can’t make it back. Can you please stop dragging this out?”

“You could have come back,” I said. “You could have come this morning.”

He said nothing.

Someone in the distance called him over to watch the seagulls. Elliot answered them before turning back to me.

“I know you’re upset. How about this? When we get back to town, you pick the place. You can yell at me all you want. I’ll stand there and take it.”

“Did you really not think about coming back even once today?” I asked.

He hesitated.

“I did. But Lily just got here. I didn’t want her to feel like she’d always be an outsider whenever the three of us were together.”

The call ended.

I stared down the road leading off the mountain.

When we were children, I’d been the one to lead them out of those snowy mountains.

Now they were afraid of leaving Lily alone at the beach, yet they’d left me alone up here.

By four-twenty, my right hand was gone. Only the palm of my left hand could still grip my phone.

I called Miles.

“Could you talk to me for a minute?” I asked.

“Go ahead. I’m listening.”

“When we were kids, you got sick with a fever, and I brought you out of the mountains. When you woke up, you promised that once you grew up, it would be your turn to come find me.”

The other end went quiet for a moment.

“I remember,” he said. “Nora, it’s not like I’m never going to see you again.”

“But I’m waiting for you right now.”

“We’re heading home tonight.” His tone softened. “I’ll come see you as soon as we’re back, okay?”

He’d already decided how my evening would go, as if I’d still be home waiting for him to knock after today.

At four-forty, sunlight reached the roots of the pine tree near the summit.

Only a little snow remained.

I propped my phone against my backpack, positioning the camera to show both me and the snowy trail behind me, then video-called Graham.

This time, I wanted him to see what I’d been waiting for.

…