It all started when I did not stop for gas, or groceries and lost my sack. Now here I was standing outside the hood corner store pummeling it with snowballs. Angry as fuck that it was closed. I mean the audacity of the owner, right? What store does not have generators?  Anyways, how did I get to this point you ask?

 

Let me start from the beginning…

 

Last night after I left work, I went straight home, smoked a fatty and passed out. I did not even put my phone on the charger. I know stupid right? Well, I awoke to 4 feet of snow outside my door and beyond. I shoveled my way to some of the neighbor’s houses but half of them were not home and the ones that were. 

 

Well let’s just say I prefer to stay away from undesirables. Unless I was desperate. Let’s face it. It was cold outside. I was way too sober and hangry. So, I made my way to the last person I wanted to deal with. My neighbor Frank. The man has some amazing weed but he is a bit of a creep. So, I stayed away. That was until this freak of a blizzard hit. 

 

That weirdo was so overjoyed I stopped by that he became tonged tied every time he opened his mouth to speak. All I wanted to do was smoke to pass the time. But then Frank got weird, so I fled back home and decided to venture out into the snowy wonderland.

 

I tried to make it to the corner store. However, when I was a little more than a block away. A humungous tree that fell during the blizzard blocked the rest of the path. Which forced me to go a different route and that’s when my car died. I tried to wait it out. Even made some phone calls. No one was able to rescue me though. Nope instead I had to walk my ass in the freezing cold either home or to the store. 

 

So, I got out and began on my journey. Since the sidewalks were not shoveled, I had to walk in the street. Which desperately needed another plow to go over it. 

At some point during my walk I even fell into a pothole. Man, I wish they would fix those streets!

 

I did not let the snow or cold stop me though. I was on a mission. But once my toes started to feel numb. I knew I fucked up by not being prepared. Now normally I am extremely optimistic but once I could not feel my fingers and my eyelashes were crusted together by ice. I began to panic.

 

How could I be so dumb? Why did I ignore the news and everyone’s warnings to not get caught unprepared? Maybe if I did not smoke so much, I would be able to pay better attention to everything. Damn I hated being so sober. Everything was bothering me deep in my soul. 

 

When I finally approached the store, I attempted to jog but my legs were stiff and I tripped on the curb. Fell face forward and ended up with a mouth full of snow. It does not taste as good as you would think either.

 

I mean as kids we caught snowflakes on our tongue for fun and we thought it tasted good. But as an adult and in this moment, I hated it. I got up, spit out the mountain of snow and dusted myself off. I made my way to the door until I noticed it was locked and the power was off.

 

“What the --,” I said.

 

 I began kicking the blocks of snow on the ground. Then formed some snow into balls and threw them violently at the windows. Could you blame me? I had trekked all that way to the store just to be surprised by the fact it was closed. 

 

“Damn you, mother nature. Why did it have to snow,” I asked while I looked up to the sky.

 

“Uh hey, need some help,” asked a voice from behind me.

 

Startled I jumped, turned, and hurled a snowball at the person that had spoken to me. What can I say I have fast reflexes and I didn’t expect it to make contact with his face. But let me tell you, his expression was priceless. I heard someone gasp. I felt horrible but I let out a giggle. He wiped the snow off his face and flung it to the ground. 

 

“Now that, that is out of your system, what are you doing out here,” the man asked. 

 

“I ran out of gas,” I replied and shrugged. “I am out of food too. That is why I showed up here. But as you can see its closed.”

 

“Offer her a ride,” a woman said.

 

“Look we can give you a lift to the nearest gas station or store if you like. There are a few open near here.” the man said.

 

Now I know it is best not to ride with strangers. But when in a blizzard and you can no longer feel some of your limbs. It is best to accept the first ride that shows up. Luckily, the two strangers that rescued me seemed normal. Even a little boring sorry to say. 

 

But they kept their word. They took me to the store. I got some food that would last me until the power was back on and filled a gas can to save my ride from sitting. I offered the couple some gas money but they refused and mentioned to just pay it forward someday. 

 

When I finally got home I threw my coat on my old recliner. It ended up knocking the hoodie I had on last night to the floor and a sack fell to the ground. I snatched it up and did a happy dance. Then rolled me a blunt. I sat back to light it up. The lighter flickered a few times but did not produce a flame. I frantically searched around but none of the lighters I found would work. I dropped to my knees in disbelief.

 

“Nooooooo,” I said and cried aloud.

                                                                                                 

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