Five days straight of snow, five feet of it, and five degrees below. 5-5-5.
Charly kept a path clear and knocked the heavy powder from the windshield of his old Willys every day, yet snow was up to the wheels. Wearing his Sorel boots and a thick scarf doubled around his face, he rocked it from the deep snowbank the weather had set down around the vehicle.
He noticed moose tracks in the front yard near the bushes; moose always came down from the mountains when the snow was high. Charly couldn’t get his back door open from inside the house. It must be iced over; it’s on the windy side. He went out the front door and headed toward the back, high-stepping through the newly fallen and deep snow.
Looking up, all he saw were tumbling snowflakes dropping from gray clouds.
Suddenly, face to face with a cow moose, startled, he dropped his keys.
Nibbling alder branches, steam swirled from her nostrils. She bluff-charged him; he willed himself invisible beside the house, holding his breath. Then, ears flattened, she moved slowly into the backyard. Her long legs traversed in snow to her chest; she munched on his apple tree, pawing out a few frozen ones from the snow. Charly watched, aghast, as she leaped from a standstill, his six-foot fence into a thick stand of alder.
Charly’s admiration for her grew as he waded through waist-high snow, his thighs freezing, a shovel handle his tool to locate his keys.
About the Creator
Andrea Corwin
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Comments (15)
You wrote in an interesting way.
Never had much experience in snow but yeah I can feel it
I loved this and remember my first pair of Sorel's in Vermont; I live in Sweden now. I have sat on a thriller I am working on for months and need snow as my muse! Guess what! Snow is expected Tuesday:) I also noticed you tipped me back in March and I may have not thanked you. It felt so encouraging to receive such a gift from someone whose writing I admire. TY! ROCK
Thank you very much for this wonderful writing
i like the concept and it was well-done! very cute!
Naughty Moose. I experienced losing a postal key in the snow while delivering mail. It was the most horrible experience I ever had. It was a blizzard,too.
Yikes. I lose things like my keys so easily in hot weather where I am! Far worse in the snow!! Crossing my fingers that he finds them.
Wow! Are these photos you took too? Such amazing sights and beautifully described!
Being in waist high snow in our backyard I empathize with charly…and the plight of moose in heavy snow. Very real!!!
Gosh that jeep is sooooo buried in the snow! That's crazyyyyyy! Loved your story!
I remember growing up in Anchorage and all the boys would chase the moose in the schoolyard. It wasn’t the greatest idea so we ended up inside till the moose left.
A beautifully written tales with great photos.
Pictures of all the snow and the moose,Even the old Jeep reminds me of my childhood growing up in Alaska! Great storytelling Andrea
When he dropped his keys, I thought, oh Lord, he’ll not see them again till spring! Great writing! Leaping a six foot fence from a stand still! Incredible!
I hope you enjoy this story. The photo is of my old Jeep covered in snow in Anchorage years ago. Moose are frequent in town in the winter and very dangerous. A collision with a moose is horrid, and many are killed by trains. They are avid garden lovers in the summer.