Fishing Blind

My eyes stung as I watched icicles begin to form on my nose in the reflection of the frozen lake. Long hours spent waiting for the sudden jerk of the fishing rod in my gloved hands, yet there were no fish. “Perhaps one will come soon…” I mumbled to myself, dropping the rod and removing my gloves. I glanced down at my hands as it suddenly dawned on me that my fingertips had turned blue. I blew on them and harshly rubbed my palms together. I got up and looked around. There were my gloves, my fishing rod and my supplies at my feet, but surrounding me was emptiness. Paper-white emptiness.

 I sat back down and kicked my fishing rod carelessly across the ice. It skidding along the ground and as I quickly got up and attempted to run towards it, three steps in I lost my footing, and fell. My right leg plunged into the sub-zero temperature fishing hole.

 “Argh!” I shrieked, squirming vigorously as I tried to pull my leg out of the water before the cold began to bite. Suddenly I lost feeling in my toes and could feel the numbness creep towards my upper leg. I kicked at the ice around the small hole with my left foot as I pulled with my right. This frenzy endured for several seconds before –‘CRRRRRRRRACK!’

 With an ear-piercing scream I fell into the water. The ice had collapsed and now my entire body was consumed by the freezing lake! Struggling to breathe, and distraught, I clawed at the surface but kept losing grip. The ice was too slippery to hold on to. Shaking my head from left to right, I squinted as I surveyed the area. I lost focus. My glasses had been left on the surface.

 Through the blur I managed to focus on a long, thin stick. The fishing rod, perhaps? I reached my hands out to grasp it praying it to be of use. I could feel myself lose consciousness as oxygen failed to reach my brain, and began desperately banging the ice with my fists.

 Everything went fuzzy… Lights flashing …

 “Carly? Carly, CAN YOU HEAR ME?”

“C-A-N-Y-O-U-H-E-A-R-M-E?” a voice whispered.

 I blinked as I opened my eyes to the glare. “Argh…close the blinds you Adam?” I winced. “Do I have to do everything around here?” He rolled his eyes as he handed me my dark glasses. “Thanks, Adam.” I sighed, as I got up from sofa. There was a loud thud on the ground as my little brother jumped on the sofa and knocked something over, reaching for the TV remote.

 My hand instinctively reached out to grasp my white cane. I touched the ground around me, but could only feel the open book that had fallen off the sofa. ‘The Perils of Arctic Living’ I read aloud, as I ran my blue finger-tipped hands over the tiny raised bumps of braille.