He slept flawlessly that night, until the sound of the howling wind and creaking wooden boards woke him up. Wasn’t a pleasant awakening, but he’d gotten enough sleep that he felt well-rested anyway.
He changed into his day clothes and peeked outside. The snowfall had gone from the gentleness of yesterday to a much thicker downfall. Yup, there definitely wasn’t going to be any ice fishing today. Even if he could brave the cold and the thick snow, the lake was probably too frozen over now to be able to carve a hole into.
He shuddered as another round of howling wind threw itself against the cabin. That was the one thing that did bother him about living up here; the awful sound of the wind. The mournful sound rattled against the boards, threatening to blow his house away with him in it.
His eyes fell on his safe. Every time he looked at it, he kept thinking that he should move it somewhere else where it wasn’t so out in the open. Maybe down in the basement would be a better spot for it. It probably wouldn’t matter, seeing as he so seldom had company, let alone someone who’d actually try and break into it. But moving it would help him feel better. Not today, though. He wasn’t in the mood right now to lug a heavy safe all the way downstairs and risk injuring himself. He waved it off.
He went on with his day, doing the best he could to put it out of his mind. He was most definitely going to be having another fire tonight, so he went to his basement to chop some firewood from the logs he had in storage. Once he had enough for a good long fire, he went upstairs and lay down on the couch, exhausted from all the effort.
Things were idle for the rest of the day. Just the way he liked it. He made good headway on his crossword puzzle book. When he got sick of that, he prepared himself another meal of fish. It was too late to be called lunch, but too early to be supper.
Fish took up much of his diet these days. It was food he could acquire without having to go into town. He didn’t like going down there. He used to get sick of the fish from having it so often. But, like with the cold, he was just so used to it now. It was still daytime, but he started up another fire anyway to enjoy his meal next to the comforting warmth. He let it burn for a while before being inexplicably being drawn back to his computer. He didn’t get e-mails that often, and wasn’t expecting any new messages. But, in fact, there was one:
The thought of seeing you again fills me with joy. All we must do is wait a few moments more, and we can be together again at last. I am coming.
He slapped his knee and rocked back and forth with laughter. Seriously? Was this any different from the message he’d gotten yesterday? He looked through his inbox to compare the two, only to remember he’d deleted yesterday’s message.
Still, there was no sender, which was incredibly odd.
He clicked the ‘Reply’ button anyway. There he sat at the computer for minutes on end, coming up with the wittiest and snarkiest response he could think of.
Dear whoever you are.
Thank you for the entertainment and laughter you’ve given to my life. If you’re a comedian, I congratulate you, and can tell you that you’re well on your way to fame and stardom. If you’re looking for the love of your life, then I’m sorry to say that it won’t work out between you and I.
So sorry to devastate you this way. Someday you’ll meet someone who’s right for you.
Or not.
He reread it multiple times with pride, savouring it. When at last he was done reading it over and over, he hit ‘Send’. With the apparent lack of a sender from the other end, he wondered if his message would even go through. He really hoped it did. He’d fork out his retirement savings just to see the person’s reaction.
It occurred to him after he shut off the computer that perhaps he shouldn’t have responded to the e-mail after all. What if it only encouraged more messages his way?
Oh well. If that happened, he could probably think of some equally snide and snarky response to dish out.