(Wo)Man's Best Friend

It was a particularly brisk winter morning that came after two days of calm but heavy snowfall; the sun was finally shining. A fresh, thick layer of bright snow was glittering on the ground, a scene that made the outdoors look deceivingly warm and welcoming.

I enjoyed the pleasant view as I drank my steaming cup of coffee and scrolled through my social media accounts. I soon came across a post someone had made about a residence in my community that had caught fire overnight. They were trying to spread the word about one of the family dogs that had escaped the fire, but had run off and they hadn't seen her since. Perfect excuse to take Blu out for a walk and enjoy this beautiful day off, I thought, hoping my large and lovable dog's presence would lure the other to us. I knew the area vaguely, well enough to know there was a trail leading up a hill into the woods behind the residence.

Blu and I stepped outside and immediately noticed that the sun that had warmed us through the window this morning was not going to be so kind to us, but I decided we were both bundled up enough to keep us warm long enough to get a good walk in. We made the short drive to the other side of town, and it didn't take long to spot the residence that had burned. The residence had turned mostly black, and was still spitting steam and smoke gently into the cold winter air. The side of the residence facing the roadway had crumbled into a black heap of wood and debris that brought a wave of sadness over me, a family lost not only their home during the cold night, but their family pet as well. I glanced at Blu and felt ill for a moment at the thought of losing him.

We turned on the road immediately after, that wrapped behind the house and it's neighbors and swirled around the hill that overlooked them. I drove about two more minutes before the road was no longer plowed, and we started our trek. Blu and I trudged down the road not long before we reached the trailhead. I was relieved to see that the trees overhead had protected the trail from much of the snowfall, making it much easier for us to walk in more natural movements, rather than the snow that was to my knees on the roadway.

Blu loved going on walks, especially when we had the opportunity to get out on a trail where he didn't have to be on a leash and run free. He ran circles around me, bounding through the snow and through the woods surrounding the trail, his ears jowls flopping and his eyes excited, as happy as he could be. The air was cold and brisk, but we were moving enough to keep warm. It was peaceful with the sun and hardly any wind, the trees silent as they stood above us with no leaves, letting in plenty of sun, this trail felt perfect.

Just when I didn't think this trail could get any better, as we followed a curve in the path, the sun became brighter and brighter. At the end of the curve was nothing. No trees, rocks, we couldn't even see the other side of the horizon with the sun shining glittery snow in our eyes. Just a flat, glittery open field of snow. Blu took of in a bout of excitement in all the open space, hopping through the thick fluffy snow, leaving a trail in his circles of snow falling back to the ground. I snapped a picture and looked around, I had no idea this field was here and it was the perfect surprise. I took off running with Blu in circles, chasing each other like kids. We left our circles behind and I ran straight from the direction of the path we just toward the bright horizon to see where it led. I quickly was able to see another line of trees on the other side, but could not see where the path picked up. I kept running, thinking it must continue somewhere on the other side.

With the wind in my hair and Blu's ears, we were running at full speed when suddenly at the same exact moment we both fell to the ground. It was a hard fall for both of us, I landed on my back and had to regain my breath for a second before assessing the pains that I had. I saw Blu spring back up surprisingly fast, I was afraid he would be much more effected with his old age, but he immediately stood up and stared back at me. I felt the pain searing in my back and my elbows that had hit so hard, but knew there was no serious damage and went to stand up. I got one knee on the ground and went to stand on my other foot, and it slid out from underneath me as fast as I had fallen the first time. Confused, I swept my hand across the ground wondering what I was standing on that I could not get a good footing. It was ice. I swept another area with my hand, and found the same. My mind filled with panic as I realized what we were standing in the middle of, a large frozen pond. I had always had a fear of standing on frozen water, especially in my current situation as I had no idea how thick or reliable the ice was, as I had no idea the pond existed in the first place.

And then it happened. The sound I had feared the most, that I knew from too many movies depicting people falling through the ice, I heard a loud crack in the distance, that continued to gain volume, I could hear it getting closer to me. "RUUNNN!!!" I called to Blu, who barely reacted. Of course he wouldn't, he never left my side and certainly wasn't going to start now. The crack reached my knees and I started clamoring toward the closes trees I could see, hoping to gain some traction enough to get up and run. Thoughts of the both of us falling in flooded my head and I immediately started picturing myself trying to get back on top of the ice and struggling to pull my very large dog out of the water.

Finally - my foot caught the ice and I was standing again, and running full speed, Blu in tow. I yelled as I ran hoping someone would hear or see us, in case we not make it to shore before the cracking caught up with us, but there wasn't a sound or movement in sight. Blu got ahead of me, and when I saw he had made it to the tree line, a wave of relief came over me. I kept running but slowed down, although I could hear the cracking behind me still, I was feeling much safer as the trees grew bigger, the ice should be thicker at the edges of the pond.

The next instant the trees and the edge of the pond flew above my head and the world grew dark. A shocking cold flooded my body, I had fallen straight through the ice. I let myself sink for just a few seconds hoping to feel the bottom of the pond on my feet so that I could push myself back to the surface, but there was no bottom within the reach of my toes, which were starting to tingle along with my hands, ears and face. I then started swimming upward as furiously as I could, toward the light of the sun through the break in the ice, and gasped when I hit the surface. I grabbed the ice and tried to pull myself up but slipped off just as fast as I had fallen. I took my gloves and threw them away from me so that I could grab it more closely, and the same happened. I felt a tug on the sleeve of my coat and looked up. Blu had come to my rescue and was trying to pull me out of the water. I knew it wasn't going to work but I was glad to have a little bit of extra momentum from him tugging. He pulled me as hard as he could while I grabbed and pulled at the ice, but it wasn't working. I was growing weak quickly, unable to feel the lower half of my body anymore.

I'm going to die, I realized. This fleeting thought made me stop trying for a moment, I held the ice and breathed in a few breaths as I realized I may not make it out of this water. I reached my hand weakly upward and touched Blu's face, met his gaze for a moment before he looked upward and toward the tree line. Confused, I turned my head and saw another body running toward us, it was coming at us fast, and was no human. The disappointment that it wasn't a person who could help me hit me like a slap to the face. Suddenly the animal was standing over me blocking the sun and I could see the missing dog that had been described. She latched her mouth around the other side of my jacket and suddenly the dogs started pulling me together, and the next thing I notice is my waist is above water. I quickly was able to get my knee up onto the ice and crawled out of the large hole in the ice.

I made it. Thanks to these unlikely rescuers, I had made it out of the ice and crawled to the treeline. I layed there for a few breaths relieved and shocked at the events that just occured, before the cold hit me again. I stood up and started moving as fast as I could toward the truck. I was out of breath from fighting the water and was feeling weaker than I could have imagined. Finally the dogs and I made it to the truck, and as it heated up I stripped my wet clothes off and wrapped myself in a blanket I had been keeping in the back, and went home.

The family was so grateful when I returned their dog. The tears of joy made everything I had just been through made it worth every second. The winter continued on for two more long months and finally spring began to make its appearance, warming our small town and melting the snow. I had never been so thankful for a spring in my life. Winter had always been my favorite season and I always dreaded the wet, muddy spring. This year was different. I welcomed the warmth and the comforting sun.

When all the snow was melted, I took a trip out to the pond so I could see what it looked like without the snow and ice hiding it away from the world. Not sure how I'd feel when I got there, I hesitated before I walked around the bend and came to the clearing on another sunny day with Blu. But I then found the calm water surrounded by trees and budding ferns, my eyes flooding with green and sunlight reflecting off the water. I found it even more beautiful and peaceful, and I jumped in.