Wolf Lake
By Darrel Bird
Copyright December 2012 by Darrel Bird
‘Up there where the cold wind blows
In its wild way the wilderness enfolds
Stricken from society the wildness grows
Winter comes and time slows
For all who would find love there’
Part 1
Tessa Parker stood in front of the mirror at the hair salon in down town Alameda California staring at her hair.
It just wasn’t done the way she had asked the girl to do it. The girl who normally did her hair was off with the flu.
She had gotten a call from her sister in Barrow Alaska begging her to come up on her week’s vacation. The girls had not seen one another in two years; her sister had moved to Barrow with her new husband. Her sister was only two years younger than her, but had already married twice.
In walked Dottie Bernstein who attended her church, “Tessa, I heard you were going to go off by yourself on your vacation.”
“Hi Dottie, yes, Rick has to work so I thought I would visit my sister in Barrow Alaska.”
“Isn’t that near the north pole or something?”
“Well, very near it.” She laughed. “It's on the northern-most part of Alaska.”
“Don’t they have like…Polar bears or something up there?”
“I don’t know; I’ve never been there.”
She knew that Dottie would go on gabbing all day if she let her, but she simply didn’t have time for that as her plane was scheduled for the next morning.
“See you when I get back; gotta run Dottie.”
“Ok, don’t get eaten up there.”
She walked hurriedly to her car and got in and turned the ignition. The car was a small Ford, a tribute to her husband’s frugality.
On her way home in the suburbs of Alameda, she thought about the fact that her biological clock had already stopped ticking. It had ran up to the big forty road block, crawled over, then fell on its face and killed the hope of her ever fulfilling her mission to populate the world.
They had said they would have a child later when the time was right, but Rick had put her off. The time that was right just never happened.
Rick was a computer systems analyst for a banking security firm, and she sometimes wondered if there was anything but numbers in his head.
He had every phase of their lives planned. He made good money, and she had everything she wanted or needed except children.
Their marriage had become settled, and days turned into years in the same stucco home they had bought new when they were married, she at twenty-eight and Rick at thirty.
Neither she nor Rick had chased after large houses or fine cars or impressing the neighbors, it was just not in either one of them to do that.
She realized that from the beginning both of them were happily married, then they were just married, period.
She was a Christian and went to church regularly, but Rick begged off most Sundays. He just didn’t seem interested in church, but instead of being concerned, she put it off to his being cooped up in his office day after day.
When she had walked in and announced that she was going to fly up and visit her sister in Barrow, he had just said, “Ok.” And he went back to reading his paper.
She pulled up in front of their neat stucco house with its groomed lawn and trimmed trees in front and the perfectly trimmed shrubbery. They had obtained a good gardener who had faithfully kept the grounds for five years straight.
She opened the door and walked into the living room where Rick was working on some papers. Instead of working at his desk, he had them spread out on the footstool.
“I got my hair done, and I’m about packed; I leave in the morning.”
“What time?”
“Nine AM. Can you remember to feed the cat?”
“Yes, I’ll leave a note near the coffee pot.”
“Rick, are we ever going to have children?”
“Now honey, don’t start in with that, we’re just not ready for children. My work and yours takes so much of our time you know.”
“Did you know that it’s risky for me to have children now that I’m past forty? We’ve let life pass us by Rick.”
“Aren’t you happy with things the way they are?”
“I…I suppose so.”
“Then let's not discuss it, ok?”
“Yes, lets not, I’m going to bed early Rick.”
How do the years pass without a person even realizing it until they are gone? She wondered.
”Ok, it looks like I’m going to have to work a couple more hours; I’ll be in as soon as I get through.”
She was asleep when her husband came to bed at half past ten. The alarm went off at six as usual, and her husband got up to shower.
He came into the bedroom thirty minutes later and kissed her on the cheek, “See you tonight.”
“I’m flying out this morning, don’t you remember?”
“Oh yeah…well I’ll see you when you get back then. Just put your car in storage at the airport.”
“I think I’ll leave it here and ask the neighbor to drive me.”
“Ok. See you.”
If I told you, I was going to shoot the neighbor would you say it was ok? She realized her thoughts had wandered into a forbidden area.
“Ok, I’m grouchy the morning, Lord forgive me.” She said and got out of bed. She brushed her teeth and messed with her shoulder length Auburn hair until she thought it was half decent then made some toast, had a half-cup of coffee that was already going stale, then began to get dressed for the trip.
“Fred, could you drive me to the airport?” She said into the phone. She had one of the nicest neighbors anyone could want, when the paper boy threw the paper into the bushes, he would come over and fish it out and lay it by the door.
He was in his seventies and had lost his wife to cancer, but he seemed content to putter around in his yard. He left every Sunday morning right at ten to go to his church. He made life seem normal. I guess that’s what we are…normal. The thought went through her mind unnoticed, an unexamined as she got ready for the trip.
I wonder what kind of cloths I’ll need up there? I suppose I can just buy what I need when I get there. Her mind wandered away from biological clocks to the fourth coming re-union with her sister.
Her neighbor arrived at her door at seven thirty to make the thirty-minute trip to the airport. She stared out the window as mundane life in Alameda droned on. They exchanged their good-byes in front of the airport, and she entered the concourse. It took only fifteen minutes to get through security. The plane sat on the tarmac for fifteen minutes waiting for its turn to take off. Finally, she looked out the window, and the plane was rolling. It gained speed then she felt the force push her back into the seat as the plane took to the air.
She sat in her window seat and looked out over the clouds for a while, then pulled the blanket up to her shoulders and settled back to sleep.
She was tired by the time the plane settled on the run way in Fairbanks, she had an hour lay over so she got a cup of coffee, and picked out a novel in the concourse, and by that time it was time to board the smaller plane for Barrow.
When she got to her assigned seat, there was a drunk sprawled out across the seat directly in front of her. His cap was on sideways, and he reeked of alcohol. He had a heavy beard, and his jeans were dirty; he had a parka laid over his shoulders.
“Don’t let it worry you ma’am, most of the guys who ride this plane are oil field or pipeline workers in Prudhoe Bay and Barrow. They let loose in Fairbanks, but for the most part, they are a decent lot.” The man said in the seat beside her.
“What do you do there?” She asked him.
“I?
??m a Climatologist for the northern-most weather station, been there two years.”
“I’m going to visit my sister in Barrow.” She volunteered.
The man seemed nice, but she really didn’t want to talk. She reached for her novel; ending the conversation.
She had read half way into the book when the stewardess announced that they should fasten their seat belts for rough weather.
The plane began to lose altitude fast; she saw the stewardess run to her side seat and buckle the straps of her seat belt. She heard and felt the plane hit; she felt the shock; then she heard herself scream.