Скачать или смотреть Voice.club - Memoir - Along a Snow-Covered Field - by Susan Giles

https://Voice.club - Leave comment at https://SoftArt.Discourse.Group - Filled with a combination of excitement and trepidation, we board the bus.

"Can you believe it?" I turn to Jody, my best friend, with a grin on my face. "Only 6th graders, and we are traveling with Seward's High School Band!"

She grins back at me as we struggle to carry our instrument cases onto the bus. "It sure would have been easier if we played flute as planned instead of these bulky saxophones."

"Yes," I laugh. "But if we played flute, my dad wouldn't have been able to tell me, 'You sound like a dying moose', and suggest that I practice outside! Can you imagine? Outside! In the winter! In Alaska!"

We are returning home from a basketball game in Anchorage. In 1960's Alaska, one thinks nothing of traveling 126 miles for a single game.

Suddenly I realize the bus has slowed down and stopped alongside a snow-covered field. The moon shines just enough to see there is nothing on the road; we have not hit a moose. The cars following also stop; one of the drivers, Mr. Hatch, gets out. He and our bus driver raise the hood. We watch their breath curl frostily upward as they confer, then Mr. Hatch returns to his car and continues toward Seward. Our driver tells us that, unable to fix the problem, Mr. Hatch is going to get Lloyd Blondin, who can fix anything!

We sit, now three to a seat for warmth.

"What do you think happened?"

"How long are we going to be stuck here?"

"Does this mean we can stay home from school tomorrow?"

We huddle together to stay warm, snuggling under the emergency blankets that have been distributed. We trade stories, jokes, and sticks of Fruit Stripe Gum, a first for me! The sweet taste stays on my tongue even as the cold tries to overtake my body.

We shiver and giggle, sing and yawn; time is meaningless.

Eventually Mr. Blondin returns, fixes the engine and we progress the remaining 100 frozen miles of road to town.

We discover later the temperature that night dropped to -13 degrees F/-25 degrees C.

Another typical Alaskan adventure.