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sister.  He and Sarah were only a year apart and had
a great deal in common.  He was closer to her than anyone in his family.  Nick
looked at Sarah with affection and tenderness.  He really loved her and knew
deep down that he would do anything for her.
    Sarah caught his
look and smiled.  She walked up to him and hugged him without saying a word. 
She knew what he was thinking.  She always did.  It was strange.  It almost
seemed as if they communicated on some higher level.  Sarah always knew when he
was down and needed some cheering up, or when he had hurt himself (he was a
real klutz).  Likewise, Nick could always tell when Sarah was feeling low or
just needed to talk.  It felt good being this way with someone.
    Sarah turned and
headed toward the back of the cabin, and the bedroom that she had all to
herself.  "See you in the morning.  What time are we getting up?"
    Mike answered her
from the top of the stairs; it was directed at Nick as much as her. 
"About seven, Sarah.  We need to leave here by eight if we want to make it
to the basin by ten."  He started descending the stairs and watched Sarah
as she passed the base of the stairs and disappeared around the corner.
    "Do you think
we need to go look for them?" Mike queried Nick as he hit the bottom step.
    "Yeah, I
suppose so," Nick said, obviously disgusted, "Do you want to go with
me?"
    "No.  But I
better in case you need the help."  He raised his eyebrows in a gesture
that said, "Oh well, let's do it," and then they bundled back up and
headed out the door.  A biting wind greeted them as they did so.  This time,
Mike had the presence of mind to grab a flashlight off of the kitchen counter
before they left.
     
    ***
    In the middle of
the black ahead of them in the distance was a surreal glow.  It disappeared
then reappeared with each crest and valley they traversed.  The closer they
came to it, the more the glow turned into a discernible light.  A single
headlight directed off into a field.  By the time they had cleared the last
hill, the last obstacle between themselves and the lucent scene, they were
nearly upon it.
    Nick and Mike's
eyes widened as the radiance illuminated the Jeep lying on its side.  One
headlight was buried in a drift and cast the ethereal glow that encompassed the
scene with a nimbus.  Like a dead Cyclops with its singular eye opened and
glazed, the other headlight stared blankly into space.  Nick slowed to a stop
about thirty feet from the wreck.
    "Jesus
Christ!"  His words trembling, Nick sat there holding tightly onto the
wheel afraid to let go.  He was afraid to let go of a piece of solid reality in
what seemed like a very bad dream.  There was no windshield to cast a
reflection, either from the Jeep's headlights, or his own.  They could tell
right away that the Jeep was empty.
    "Jesus!"
he repeated.  Nick turned to Mike.  The expression on Mike's face told him that
this was indeed happening.
    "Oh shit! 
Shit!  We-we'd better see what's going on Nick!  Maybe they were thrown from it
. . . or. . ."  Mike trailed off then released his seatbelt and opened his
door.
    Nick did the
same.  Neither of them said anything for a long time.  They walked slowly to
the heap, the icy wind biting at their exposed parts.  They did not notice it. 
The wind howled and screeched and screamed at them, but they did not notice
that either.  It was a strange and eerie sound as though it were passing through
the leafless branches of some nearby trees.  But they did not notice it, or the
fact that there were no trees nearby.
    Nick knelt at the
windshield and peered in, one hand on the top of the cab to steady him.  The
insides were a shambles, broken glass and ski equipment everywhere.  He noticed
the blood on the door window against the ground and his heart skipped.  Then he
saw that the driver side door was gone.  Not opened, but simply not there.  He
gasped.  Then his eyes focused on something much closer to his