Happy Birthday

I sit at one of the North facing windows of our family cabin, tucked in at the base of Yoho Valley in the National Park. I watch as the day’s light seamlessly disappears over the mountain range making way for the darkness to creep in and settle across the night sky. It’s snowing and the howl of the constant November winds sweeping around our cabin reminds me of the scenes in the Harry Potter movies when the Dementors arrive. As the darkness descends so too does the icy cold air, sucking the life out of the day.

This red cedar wood cabin was built by my great, great grandparents and the deeds state that it must remain in the family and can never be sold. My father has passed on hundreds of family memories that have been lived here and I swear the ghosts of family passed still frequent this space. There are moments when the temperature in this room suddenly plummets and the chill is unexpected and brief.

My parents are sitting by the wood fire drinking mulled wine and my six year old sister is laying on the floor by the fire, colouring in. “Patrick,” my dad calls, “Come on over here and join us.” I leave my private space and sit with my family by the warmth of the glowing fire. He tells us that the weather will be quite fierce this evening and not to worry, the cabin is solid and we will be safe. We sit, share stories and devour mum’s delicious homemade apple pie and cream before retiring for the night. I hope I fall asleep quickly because tomorrow is my tenth birthday and I’m keen for the morning to arrive as soon as possible. Finally, Double Digits!

A loud rumbling sound wakes me, it’s still dark and I look over to my sister in the bed next to mine and she too has been woken. “What’s that noise, Pat?” she asks me as she gets out of her bed and hops into mine, “I’m scared,” she says wrapping her arms around my body.

“It’l be ok,” I reassure her, “Remember dad said that the weather could get bad, we’ll be fine.”

We both lay back down and Sarah snuggles under my arm resting her head on my chest. Within seconds the rumbling was suddenly replaced by a louder, roaring and whumping and I recognised that sound. I sat up and screamed ‘Avalanche!’

I grabbed my sister’s hand and ran to my parents bedroom. My dad, already out of bed, instructed us to run to the front door, put on our boots and coats. Followed closely by my parents we did as he said and ran out into the dark, cold night. “We need to get to the pond where the land begins to flatten,” my dad screamed as the four of us frantically ran as fast as we could, not looking back.

The sound was intense, my heart was pounding and I was terrified. My mum and dad held onto Sarah’s hands but her little feet couldn’t keep up so they had to drag her. Her feet barley hit the ground. I kept my gaze in front of me, knowing that the tumbling snow behind me was close and at any moment, we could be engulfed and buried beneath it. My dad continued to shriek, “Go, go, go…..”

The frozen pond came into view and the realisation that safety lay just on the other side, resulted in my legs expending a little more energy, gaining a little more speed. My dad, still screaming “Go, go, go…..” was just behind me when we arrived at the edge of the pond. I knew that the pond was frozen solid and would easily hold our weight but I also knew that it would be slippery and I was desperate to get to the other side as soon as possible so I leapt off the ground and slid on my chest and belly. As I slowed and stopped sliding, the roaring had subsided and I looked behind me. Intense dread and fear hijacked my mind and body. Where were my family?

I could see where the snow had flattened and halted on the pond, just behind me but there was no sign of my parents or my sister. Panic stricken I just stood screaming “Mum, Dad, Sarah” over and over again. The valley quietened and the first signs of the new day began to light the sky. I don’t know how long I stood there screaming before I was able to make a decision to act. I ran towards the snow. If they were buried, I had to dig them out.

As my feet began to sink deeper into the snow, I continued to yell for my parents, scouring the surface in the hope of seeing something, anything. “Mum, Dad, Sarah,” I bellowed, desperate to find them. Tears flowing and fear growing I sank to my knees, distraught. Where were they? “Daddy, please, where are you?” I screamed as loud as I could and then I heard it, my father’s voice off to my right. “Patrick, Patrick, over here, we are over here, help us son, I need your help.”

“I’m coming dad, hold on, I’m coming,” I yelled and I trudged as fast as I could in the direction of his voice.

My dad was almost completely buried in the snow, his right shoulder and head visible. “Patrick, dig buddy, I need you to dig. I’ve got Sarah’s hand but I can’t lift her out. With that I began to frantically dig around and under my dad’s left shoulder, calling Sarah’s name as I moved as much snow as I could out of the way. It wasn’t long before I found dad and Sarah’s hands and exposed Sarah’s head. Loosening the snow enough for my dad to move, he heaved Sarah out of the snow. She was crying and shivering, screaming for mum. Dad and I continued to dig. Where was my mum?

It took several minutes to locate her and then several more minutes trying desperately to dig her out. While Sarah continued to scream beside me, I watched my dad pull my mum completely out of the snow. Her eyes were closed. She was silent and limp. My dad began breathing into her mouth and I grabbed my sister and held her tight. Watching, rocking and sobbing, we waited for what seemed like forever, my mind chanting please don’t die, please don’t die, please don’t die…..

My dad continued to breathe into my mum’s mouth until finally, she drew in a large breath. My dad, tears flowing down his cheeks, embraced her saying, “Breathe honey, breathe. That’s it, breathe, breathe.” My sister and I moved over to them and we sat in the snow, huddled together, breathing.

I don’t know how long we stayed there but by the time we managed to get up and get moving, the new day’s sun had lit up the sky. Looking in the direction of the mountain, an endless sea of white snow was all that could be seen. Our cabin had completely disappeared from sight and it would be days and days before we would know if it was still standing. Turning, we slowly made our way across the frozen pond with the intention of alerting emergency services. My family moved as one, exhausted, relieved and wrapped within each other’s arms.

“You did good buddy,” my father declared, “You saved all of us and I couldn’t be prouder. Happy Birthday!”