Today's Reading

"Get one of those windows open! Above the ice!"

The older man, perhaps in his sixties, stared back in panic. As if trying to understand.

"The window! Get it open! Now!"

The man's eyes focused and he jumped, using each headrest to pull himself up the narrow aisle until he reached the last row of seats and lunged over both seat cushions on the left-hand side to grab the two bright red metal handles. He yanked as hard as he could, then pushed.

Nothing.

He pushed again, harder. Watching as the ice outside crept insidiously from window to window. Closing in on the same window he was trying to open.

"Other side!"

The stranger behind the mother and son continued shouting as he pushed forward, even while they repeatedly slipped and fell back into him.

The older man now raced to the opposite side and yanked the window handles up. This time throwing his weight against the glass and sending the large pane flying out.

"Go!" the stranger ordered. "Get out and help pull them through!" The older man didn't hesitate. He scrambled out and onto the river's frozen surface. Slipping at first, he managed to spin around and grab his wife's outstretched hands.

Inside, mother and son were still being pushed forward, scrambling up the slippery aisle, but no longer making progress. Prompting the man behind them to yell over the noise, "Climb over the seats! Over the seats!"

The icy water reached his legs and lower back with a paralyzing sting.

If there was any fortune at all, it was in the temporary rotation of the bus, allowing the last two windows on the right side to remain above the water line. But not for long, because he could feel the entire vessel continuing to sink downward. And it was accelerating.

The young boy made it over the last seat, scrambling to and out of the window with helping hands from the outside. The bus continued to sink, and the thick layer of ice continued rising toward the only open window. "Hurry!" the man shouted, and heaved the woman forward with both hands, sending her over the last seat.

Outside, the older man and his wife wrapped hands tightly around the woman's and pulled.

The entire bus was almost underwater, with the ice finally reaching their escape window, allowing the couple to retrieve the woman by sliding her out belly-first onto the ice's surface.

It was then that a giant cavity of air escaped, and the bus suddenly plunged, and the open window was abruptly slammed back up and closed.

"No!"

The older man scrambled from the outside to pull it open again, his fingers tracing around the frame, searching for a gap to pry free. Finding nothing, he waved to the stranger trapped inside. "Get back! Get back!"

The older man turned and cocked his leg and foot back as far as he could, sending a powerful kick into the center of the pane.

A small crack appeared.

He pulled back again, kicking harder. Another crack.

It was sinking too fast.

"'Damn it!'" he yelled, and kicked again. This time the crack broke open with a small hole. Again and again he kicked, enlarging the hole as the entire pane slowly began to disappear from view. His last kick missed, instead hitting the outer frame as the window finally sank below the frozen ice and water.

 
CHAPTER FOUR

In a dark bedroom, a phone lying atop the nightstand buzzed loudly as it vibrated. It was answered on the third ring. Picked up with a sigh, it illuminated a portion of the bedroom from its screen.

"Who is it?"

"Burkhart."

"Burkhart?" Who the hell was Burkhart?

"Out of Minnesota."

It took several more seconds to place the name.

"Right. Right. What is it?"

"I think I found who you're looking for."

Beneath a mess of gray hair, two eyes widened. "Say again?"

"I said, I think I found who you've been looking for."

A pause. "Are you sure?"

"Not positive, but I think it's a match."

"Where?"

"About an hour south of Minneapolis. In a bus accident. Plunged off a bridge about two hours ago. He was trapped inside."

"You're kidding."

"Nope."

The man pushed himself up in bed, thinking before checking his watch. "I'll be there in three hours. Don't let anyone at him."
...

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