Йен Райт - The Final Winter

“I can’t believe this!” Richard turned away from the window and faced his family, each of them huddled beneath a blanket. “I know it’s winter, and everything, but this is Florida .”

Richard’s family, daughter and wife, said nothing. They knew better than to converse with him in the state he was in. He wasn’t angry at them, of course – wasn’t angry at anyone in fact – but he’d built the vacation home in Florida purely to get away from home during the winter months. He expected snow like this in England, but not here.

Richard looked back out of the window and stared out over the lake that edged his second home. The water was starting to freeze over and snow banks had built up around its edges. If there were any alligators currently in there then he held little hope for their survival.

Least I’m not them, thought Richard.

“Why don’t you come and sit down, honey,” said his wife. “I’m sure they’ll be a weather forecast soon. They’ll tell us what to expect.”

Richard huffed. “Well, they didn’t bloody-well tell us to expect this, did they? Would have stayed in England if I knew there was going to be all this snow.”

“Miriam said it’s the same back home,” his wife stated. “I called her this afternoon. They’re completely snowed in.”

“It’s like this everywhere,” Richard’s daughter chimed in. “They said on the Internet that every country in the world is covered in snow. There’s a group on Facebook that say it’s all down to aliens.”

“Don’t be so stupid, Charlotte.” Richard went and took a seat beside his wife and wrestled the television remote from her hands.”

“Don’t snatch,” she said meekly.

Richard ignored her and flicked through the TV stations. He hated American channels; they were filled with so much dross. How he longed to flip on BBC One and get some straight-forward news. Eventually he found a station that seemed to be discussing the weather and he settled on it, resting back into the sofa.”

“…temperatures expected to drop further in the coming hours and are likely to remain there,” the weather report informed. “Be sure to wrap up warm, Florida, and enjoy the snow while we have it. It’s once in a lifetime.”

“Enjoy the snow,” Richard grimaced. “Who comes to Florida to enjoy the snow? They certainly don’t spend half-a-million building a house here to enjoy the snow.”

Richard’s wife stood up from the sofa and headed off. “I’ll go make a pot of tea and turn the heating up. I wish you’d stop stressing. We’re still on holiday and together, aren’t we?”

Richard let out a sigh and rubbed at his cold forearms. He turned to Charlotte who was sat on the armchair beside the sofa. “Am I being a bit of an ogre?”

Charlotte raised an eyebrow. “Little bit. Just chill out, dad. You’re upsetting mom.”

She was right of course. Richard was not unaware of how tightly-wound he could be. That was why he’d built the holiday home sixty miles north of Miami. It was supposed to be their place to relax and spend some quality time together.

Good job you’re making of it!

Richard stood up from the sofa and made for the kitchen.

“Where are you going?” Charlotte asked him.

“To apologise to your mother.” He headed through a door that bordered the lounge and entered the family kitchen area. It was a large, modern room with a breakfast bar at its tiled centre. It was his wife’s favourite part of the house. Currently, she stood up against the oversized ceramic sink, filling up the kettle beneath one of the chrome taps. He went up behind her and placed his hands on her shoulders. She did not jump so she must have expected his arrival.

“You calmed down yet?”

Richard squeezed her shoulders gently and began rubbing. “When do I ever calm down? The best you can hope for is that I realise when I’m being insufferable.”

“And have you?”

“Have I what?”

“Realised that you’re being insufferable?”

Richard turned his wife around to face him and planted a soft kiss on her cheek. “Yes, I realise, sweetheart. I’m sorry, okay?”

She kissed him back. “You’re forgiven. Let’s just enjoy ourselves for the rest of the week. They’ll be plenty of sun next time, I’m sure.”

Richard nodded glumly. “Hope you’re right.”

His wife was about to reply to him, when Charlotte’s voice carried from the other room. “Hey, mom, dad, I think you better come look at this.”

Richard and his wife looked at each other and frowned. Together they exited the kitchen and walked back through to the carpeted lounge. Charlotte was stood up against the window where Richard had earlier been looking out at the lake.

“What is it?” Richard asked her.

Charlotte turned around and faced him. Her expression was mostly one of curiosity, but Richard could see a hint of anxiety there as well. “Come look.”

Richard walked up beside his daughter and leant forward to look through the double-glazed glass window. Outside was the same, semi-frozen lake that he’d already seen, snow pilling up all around it as fresh powder continued to fall. “Everything seems normal to me, sweetheart.”

Charlotte nudged him on the arm. “Look closer, at the far end of the lake.”

Richard focused his eyes further afield. If it were not for the outdoor lighting then he would have seen nothing at all, but thanks to the illuminating glare of the high-watt bulbs, Richard could see what his daughter was trying to point out to him. “Gators?”

“Yeah,” Charlotte replied. “What are they doing?”

Richard’s best guess was that they were migrating. They were common visitors to the lake and they always seemed happy to bask and feed in a group, so seeing them all bunch together now was not all that interesting. What was a little more unordinary, though, was the fact that they were currently fighting their way from the lake, pushing and burrowing through the snow banks that towered over them. “Looks like they’re leaving the lake,” Richard guessed. “I’m not surprised with the water as cold as it is.”

“But where would they go?” Charlotte asked. “Surely they wouldn’t be any better off in the snow?”

Richard shrugged. “I expect they’re just as confused as everyone else is in Florida right now.” His wife was nearby and he smiled at her so she knew there was nothing to worry about. “Go get that tea on, sweetheart. We can settle down and try to watch a film.”

His wife smiled back and quickly departed, leaving him alone with his daughter. Charlotte was still looking out of the window, enthralled with the alligator’s behaviour.

“There must be at least fifty of them out there, all in a group,” she said.

“Will you just get away from that window? I want to close the curtains and keep the heat in.”

Charlotte sighed and turned away from the window. Richard took her place and prepared to close the curtains. He took one last look outside at the departing alligators and let out a chuckle. It really was something to behold. He stretched out sideward and grasped the curtain and started sliding it across the window, but, before he got it all the way across, something made him stop.

“What the…?”

Charlotte came back over to the window and looked out through the small gap that still remained through the curtain. “What?”

Richard didn’t turn to face his daughter. His eyes were too transfixed on what he was seeing. “There’s someone out there in the snow.”

“You’re joking,” said Charlotte. “They must be mad. It’s freezing.

“Mad or not,” said Richard, “they’re there.”