He walks away from the house. He cant look back at the dark and cold cabin. The icicles are dripping off the side. The spring has finally arrived. He is in three shirts, a jacket, two pairs of pants, three pairs of socks, and his boots. He shivers, his fingertips and lips are blue.

The cabin was supposed to be a retreat. A new years adventure for the man, his wife, and their five year old. It was, at first. Then the blizzard came. It snowed for five days straight. The roads closed first. They were going to have to stay longer at the cabin. Then the power went out. It took the heat with it. They had to ration their food. One small meal a day. Everyone was cranky but eventually they had to all sleep on the floor by the fireplace for warmth. Then they ran out of logs for the fire. Then they ran out of food. The roads couldn’t reopen. They had a day of mild sun and then it would blizzard again. Their phones had died quickly and there was no way to phone for help.

There was no way to survive. Their five year old passed first. She went to bed and never woke up. Then the wife died a few weeks later. She slipped, broke her ankle, then went into septic shock.

The man had to live for a week with the two dead bodies. He tucked them in bed together right before he left. He planned to get out no matter what.

He trudges through the snow. Piled up to his knees. Urging himself step by step. He can’t even feel his feet. He reaches the road and sees it plowed and every once in a while, a car passes. Birds are singing. It looks like the road had been clear for a while. From way back in the cabin, they were secluded. The road was only closed for a month. Their phones were dead, they didn’t know they could have gotten out long ago. The man steps onto the icy road as a car turns the corner and comes straight for him.