My Heart's on Fire Like the Colours in Her Hair

I’m not sure what occurred in the next few hours. One minute my world was crashing down on me, the next I was staring out of a foggy car window at a swirling storm of white flakes.

I had a minor freak-out moment as I realized that I was in a moving vehicle with no idea whether or not I was meant to be driving it.
I relaxed back into my depressive state, however, after I wrenched my head around to the right and saw Zac in the driving seat.

His eyes flicked over to my confused face before commenting dryly, “Welcome back.”

“What’s going on?” I was shocked to hear my voice come out so hoarsely. “And why the hell does my throat hurt so much?”

“You don’t remember?” I shook my head and gave a sigh of frustration.

“When you wouldn’t reply on the phone anymore, I went over to your place. Found you on the floor of your living room. You were completely unresponsive and as soon as I tried to move you, you started screaming, hence the throat. It took me an hour to get you in the car.”

I nodded my head as I let his words sink in. I don’t know what scared me the most; not being able to remember the last few hours of my life, or potentially missing out on some vital news about Alison.

“Where are we going?”
“Up to Mount Hotham. I figured you would want to be near the action instead of sitting at home staring aimlessly at the TV.”
“Any news?”
“Not really. They have found a few more people, only one more added to the death toll. Not Alison.” He added quickly when he saw the pained look on my face.
“They are trying to fan out from where they found Alison’s skis, but as you can see the weather isn’t helping. It’s slow going for the rescue crews.”

I closed my eyes, trying to block out the knowledge that the sane part of my brain was trying to give me.

Looking at the weather, if Ali and her friends were trapped out in the snow somewhere, their chances of survival were not looking good.

Closing my eyes was not a smart move. Behind my closed eyelids, all I could see was Alison’s dead and frozen eyes staring eerily back at me.

~

The scene that met me when I arrived at the mountain was something out of a horror movie. There were flashing lights everywhere; a body bag was being lifted into an ambulance and what I assumed was the family sat sobbing in the mud ridden snow by the side of the road.
People were running around looking lost, screaming out for their lost child, friend, brother.

I felt a tug on my arm and let Zac lead me over to what looked like a makeshift headquarters. I have no idea what Zac was saying to the search and rescue guys. I could only hear my heart pounding in my ears.

I was wrenched out of my numbing mind by the combination of my phone vibrating against my leg and my, surprisingly loud, ‘Highway to Hell’ ring tone.

Flipping my phone open, I read the caller ID.
It was Alison, she would calm me down. Tell me what to do…
Wait…
Alison?!

I frantically punched the answer button and glued my phone to my ear.

“Alison?! Where the HELL are you?!” I was answered with the crackling of static and what, I could have sworn, was Alison’s voice replying.
“…Stuck…cabin…he…”

The phone cut out abruptly and I stood there shocked for a few seconds, wondering if I had just imagined the whole ordeal.
A quick glance at my call logs confirmed that I wasn’t insane.

Practically jumping on the bright orange search and rescue dude, I began to frantically tell him about the call.
“She’s alive damnit! Find her!”

“Hey miss! We are doing the best we can under the circumstances. There are a lot of people out there and a large area to cover. You’re just going to have to be patient.”
“Patient?! She’s fucking out there! Dying for all you know! Help her!” I lunged for the guy again but Zac grabbed me and held me back. I collapsed in his arms, falling to my knees.

“Find her! Please! God! Help her…” my screams dissipated into silent sobs as I felt a pain of complete helplessness engulf me.

With Zac’s arms around my waist, I let my forehead fall against the cold, hard surface of the road. My tears mixed with the melted snowflakes as I became one of the distraught strangers calling out into the night for the lost piece of their heart and soul.