Winter Ghost

Snow fell, adding to the three or so inches already accumulated on the narrow, winding mountain two-lane. As Jack eased up on the gas pedal, he noticed a tick-tick-tick sound coming from the engine. “Great,” He said aloud, and started looking for a turnout where he could safely pull over. He’d seen just one car, passing him in the opposite direction, since turning off the interstate over an hour ago. He chuckled to himself and thought, “Hell, I could stop in the middle of the road and be perfectly safe.” Around two more sharp curves, Jack pulled to the side of the road. He left the engine running and opened the door to face the blowing snow and a wind chill hovering around ten degrees. He blew into his hands and lifted the hood. It had been years since Jack had made the trip to his family’s mountain cabin high in the southern Oregon Cascades. Life had been busy and his focus on career and family had taken all of his free time. Now, on the side of the road staring at the engine compartment of his Chevy truck, he wondered what it would have been like to bring his wife and daughter here to see the mountains and play in the snow. Of course, Jack would never know. He’d lost both his beloved Sarah and their beautiful eight year old daughter, Ashley, in a car crash six months earlier. The driver that took them away was returning home from an office party. He was way over the limit and told the first responders he never saw the car crossing in front of him, he just remembered running that red light. Twelve years of marriage, the precious life they had brought into this world and the life he had worked so hard to establish, were gone, wiped out in a fraction of a second. Thinking it might be the fan belt, Jack closed the hood and hurried back to the warmth of the cab. He sat for a minute and wondered if he’d made the right decision to quit his job, cash in his retirement, sell the condo and move back to the mountains. His fond memories of summers spent here made the decision easier than it might have been, but he’d never wintered in the cabin. He was taking a chance. Something his responsible and reserved lifestyle had not allowed him to do for a very long time. As he slowly pulled back onto the road, he made a mental note to buy a new fan belt at the auto parts store on his first trip to town, sometime later in the week. He had groceries, supplies and all the things he thought he’d need to get settled into the cabin, but an extra fan belt? Who packs and extra fan belt?