Aluminum; 50¢ a pound by donald Whyte
The weight of the snow was
crushing Leo’s lungs. He knew that this might happen. He’d purposely brought a
knife with him just in case but he’d gravely underestimated the seriousness of
the situation. As a sense of desperation settled in, he tried to wiggle in a
way that would free any part of his body, but to no avail.
Leo had a couple of issues
that were not in his favor. One, he was claustrophobic and tended to feel a
good deal of discomfort in tight spaces. Indeed, he was feeling panic and the
first thing he had to do was to get a grip on his thinking. Then, get control
of his breathing. He could only expand his chest part way, forcing him to take
frequent short puffs of air. The other issue was that he had recently had a
small heart attack and if he didn’t get a grip on his mood he could quit possibly
have another.
Leo was a fifty nine year old
mechanic. At five foot ten he carried himself well and had been in pretty good
shape until this recent heart thing. He
was not overweight and still an active guy, skiing and hockey in the winter,
biking and baseball in the summer, enjoying a couple of beer with the gang
afterward. Now, because of the heart thing he had to pace himself and was
attending rehab at the hospital three times per week.
Pinned under the collapsed
carport, Leo could only manage to take shallow breaths never catching quite enough
air to quench his body’s need. He tried to move his right arm toward the knife
in his back right pocket. On top of him was the thin layer of fabric that acted
as the outer skin of the carport and on top of that, a couple of feet of heavy
snow bearing down on his whole body. His back was on the frozen, hard cold
ground. If he could retrieve the knife, he would be able to cut the fabric and
dig through the snow. As it was, he couldn’t move. Leo could hear the quickened
pounding of his heart move up to his head like a drum beating in the still
winter air. He had to do something.
The carport, a Blizzard S-D,
was a seasonal shelter to protect a car during the winter months and over the
previous few weeks a lot of heavy snow had fallen. There must have been twelve
inches of snow on the roof, a testament to its strength. He was supposed to
have been cleaning it off each time any amount of snow had accumulated. He’d
forgotten. It was a wonder it hadn’t collapsed before this. Then, after the
last snowfall, it gave way. The highest point of the roof, the peak, came
straight down bending the aluminum support pipes that constituted the structure
of the frame like plastic straws. It now had the form of an M with the snow
from the entire roof trapped in the center V. The exterior legs were still
standing, creating a small passageway from front to back on either side inside
the carport. A small person could almost stand upright in the five-foot tall
passage. Leo was not a short person and had had to contort his body to go in.
He had gone in to try and disassemble the twisted creation of nature’s might
for an organized cleanup. Leo had been loosening and removing bolts. He wanted
to save as much as possible of the unit to perhaps reassemble later using
undamaged pieces. All was going well until he come to one bolt that seemed to
be under pressure and was giving him trouble taking it out. It was at the end
of the carport so Leo calculated if it comes down he could fall outward, no
harm done. All of a sudden the bolt and nut snapped apart with incredible
force. In the blink of an eye the whole side collapsed onto Leo without time to
fall or even think about the plan.
Leo found it difficult to calm his mind and most
of the time when not thinking about his plight, he thought about Audrey, his
wife with whom he’d shared a lifetime, a true soul mate. From the first time
he’d laid eyes on her sharp features and answered to her quick wit, it was a,
“love at first sight.” They were planning to celebrate their 30th
anniversary this coming Friday night with their kids and families. He hoped
that he hadn’t messed things up with this misstep.
He thought then of Newton and
Annik (his two children) who still had a direct line to his soul. Leo’s kids
had grown up now and had small children of their own.
He thought of how he’d give his life for them
but unfortunately the shoe was on the other foot. No one was aware of his predicament anyway so for now, he existed alone in his space.
A hue of darkness crept into
his soul accompanied by a chill that made him shiver.
It seemed to be getting dark
but then, the sun goes went down early this time of year, only meaning he’d
have to wait a little longer for someone to find him.
He accepted the notion that
because the kids had grown up and Audrey was an independent woman, it would be
all right if he didn’t make it but that wasn’t going be the case.
Pulling himself from his darkness, his
thoughts embraced his wife, kids and new grandkids. He was going to be part of
that scene and a little bit of snow wasn’t going to change that.
Leo also thought about his
life’s work and his continued education to become a teacher. To be able to help
someone acquire a trade was priceless. Once he had those initials after his
name he could start his new career. The local trade school had already offered
him a position.
He thought about his warm
welcoming home, a place where he could be thoroughly entertained and engaged,
the projects planned.
Leo was convinced these
thoughts would be enough to keep him going during this difficult situation. Leo
tried again to move his body using small repetitive movements to free his hand
and make space for his body. He could only move his arm about a half an inch.
Leo just keep moving his arm
back and forth, back and forth. His lungs were on fire, his heart pounded, his
muscles ached. Audrey was at work in town and wouldn’t be home for a couple of
hours. He wasn’t expecting anyone to come by and even if someone did he
couldn’t make much of a sound because of his position under the snow.
His heart was quieting, his
hand was moving, and after what seemed like hours, he had moved his arm around
his body until his hand was able to unsheathe the knife.
After it was all over, it had
been the mail lady who had spotted him. She had driven into the yard to have a
piece of mail to Audrey Mitchell BSc. signed
for and while looking around for someone she saw a hand coming out from
under the carport holding an box cutter knife. It took the fire department to
dig him out. An ambulance was there to take Leo to the hospital. Audrey had been phoned and asked to come to
the hospital from work. Dr. Sterbridge MD looked through Leo’s medical history,
”A teacher, that would require a BA. He always joked that mechanics should have
some letters after their name.” After the initial shock had subsided, Audrey
phoned the kids to arrange to pick them up from school.
While Audrey was waiting to
leave she glanced through the triage window and noticed a form of Leo’s on the
desk and apparently he had gotten an abbreviation after his name after all.
When he arrived at the hospital he was; Leo Mitchell, DOA. Dead on Arrival.
dW
