[Fiction] A winter's tale

[samskye1995]

My journey so far had taken over a day. It had started yesterday afternoon, with my dad dropping me off at the airport with my suitcase and gear, giving me a big hug and telling me to be safe and to skype him and my mom every now and then. I checked my luggage in at the desk and boarded the 6 hour flight from New York to Vancouver. I managed to catch some sleep on the plane before landing. I landed in Vancouver in the early evening and had to wait for 2 hours in the airport for the bus that would take me to my destination. I hopped onto it, dragging my belongings with me, along with a load of tourists. It broke down, predictably, no more than an hour into the journey. We waited for another bus for 2 hours, got on it and continued the journey North. Destination? Whistler.

We stopped overnight in a small town halfway to the resort. I collapsed into bed almost as soon as I had finished dinner. The next morning I woke up, ate my breakfast alone and checked the snow report on my iPhone. Excellent conditions with snow expected in the day, getting heavier overnight. Perfect. I dressed ready for the conditions - snow boots, two pairs of leggings, thermal underwear and a ski jacket covering my t-shirt.

The bus trundled on in the morning, heading onto ever smaller roads. The temperature outside, and inside the bus, was dropping, and I pulled on my beanie hat. I noticed suddenly that we were above the snow line. I smiled a broad smile and wondered how long it would be until arrival. The bus continued to climb and I spotted a few flakes of snowing falling past the window. Another hour and I recognized a few landmarks. I had been here many times before, but as a visitor. This time, I was coming to work.

We pulled into the village at around midday and the bus stopped somewhere in the center. I virtually sprinted off with my luggage and skis and began to haul my case to the place I had agreed to meet my new colleagues, with my skis resting on my shoulder. I wasn't even sure what my colleagues looked like, but guessed they would be wearing identifiable clothing from the resort.

The snow underfoot was compacted but still slippery. It was quite quiet in the square that I was crossing, and it was snowing lightly. The snowflakes stuck in my hair and melted on my cheeks as they fell. I made my way across the square, to where I could see a young man and woman in red ski jackets with 'staff' written across the shoulders on the back. I approached and smiled.

'Hi, I'm Shannon Lister, I'm here to meet Meg and Ryan?', I said to the pair.

She, a tall brunette with thick-rimmed glasses, spoke first, 'Hey Shannon, so nice to meet you! I'm Meg!'. She stepped towards me and gave me a hug. 'And this is Ryan, I think you two were talking on the phone earlier this week right?'. I could just about tell that Meg was Canadian.

I nodded as Ryan gave me his hug. 'Hey, I'm so glad to be here!', I said.

'Let's get inside, I'm frozen', Ryan said as he pulled away. 'Our rooms are in here, on the 3rd floor, the views are great!', Ryan added as we walked through the glass doors of a grand looking hotel. As we walked through the hotel, and took the elevator to the 3rd floor, we chatted about my flight and the journey, and about how long Meg and Ryan had been there. I learned that Meg was from Vancouver, and Ryan was local to the resort. Meg had arrived 2 weeks ago, and Ryan had been working there since the summer.

We got to the room, and Meg produced a key and opened it up. In it were two bunk beds. 'So Shannon, you're going to be sharing with Rhiannon, Phoebe and me, unfortunately you're the last to arrive so you're up top on that bed there', Meg pointed to the left hand bunk.

'Cool', I said, not expecting to have my own room anyway. Ryan left my case by my bed and excused himself. He said he had to get back to his duty on a ski-lift in ten minutes. Meg stayed with me while I unpacked a few things and pulled on some warmer clothes.

'So when do I start work?', I asked Meg.

'Tomorrow morning, we thought you might like to have tonight off before you start so we didn't put you in for a shift this afternoon', she replied with a smile. 'In fact I thought maybe you'd like a tour of the place. Have you been here before?'

'I've been to Whistler loads of times but we stay in our friend's chalet on the other side of the resort, so I've never really seen the town that much', I replied.

'Great news! I'll give you the tour, but first we'll start with this place'.

First Meg showed me the place I would keep my skis, which I had brought down with me. She then showed me the swimming pool and hot tubs that overlooked the slopes and some of the ski-lifts. I got shown the staff dining room, before heading outside and seeing some of the bars, clubs, restaurants and shops in the town. I had never really seen them before, usually my family didn't need to come into the center. Meg pointed out the best ones and the ones to avoid.

By the time we had walked around the whole town, it was 3pm and people were starting to head in from the slopes. I had taken a liking to Meg. She seemed very genuine, and I had found out she was a keen skier and snowboarder. I was glad I would be sharing a room with her.

'So what's the plan for this evening?' I asked as we got back to our room.

'Well, we were thinking of ordering in some pizzas and then having a bit of a party for your arrival!', Meg said.

I liked the idea of a party. I was also eager to make some friends, seeing as I didn't actually know anyone here. 'Sounds good to me, will Phoebe and Rhiannon be coming?', I asked.

'Yep, although Rhiannon will be joining us later as she has a date tonight', Meg said with a laugh.

'Oh yeah?' I asked, unsure if it would be too much to ask who the date was with.

'Yeah, she met this guy who's working in one of the ski hire places for the season, can't remember his name', Meg replied. 'I think she's just going for the free dinner to be honest'.

I laughed, 'been there, done that'.

'Haven't we all?', Meg laughed back. We went inside the hotel and Meg suggested grabbing a hot chocolate in the bar before heading back to the room. We sat on stalls facing each other next to a window that looked out over the pool and hot tubs.

'I'm so happy to be here, I'm so excited for the season!', I said smiling.

'Well we're very happy to have you!', Meg replied, taking a sip of her drink.

'Do you get along with Rhiannon and Phoebe?', I inquired, trying to get a feel for how the social dynamic was going to work.

'Rhiannon and Phoebe are great, and so is Ryan, we spend most of our free time together. You'll meet the rest of the guys later I guess, so I'll let you make your own judgement about them!', she smirked. I wondered what she meant but I decided not to pursue it with her.

We settled down to chatting about nothing in particular. 'I love your hair by the way, do you dye it?', she asked. I was used to the question, I had long, straight blonde hair, down to below my chest.

'Nope, it's natural! I love yours too by the way', I said honestly, looking admiringly at Meg's long, nearly black hair. It framed her sharp but kind looking face perfectly. She had green eyes and a pale complexion.

Once we had finished our drinks, we returned to our room. 'Hey Phoebs, this is Shannon', she said to Phoebe as we came in, who was lying on the bottom bunk of my bed wearing just a pair of grey thermal leggings and a black thermal sports bra, reading something on her phone. By the looks of it, she had got in, stripped off her jacket and ski pants, and was recuperating on the bed. The window was wide open and she looked hot and sweaty.

'Oh hi!', Phoebe said, standing up and offering her hand. 'I won't give you a hug, I'm drenched in sweat'. I shook her hand and noticed that she really was drenched in sweat. The blonde hairs that had escaped from her braid were stuck to her face and her pale complexion was reddened. 'I've just got back in so excuse the mess', she said, nodding at her ski gear on the floor, which was surrounded by specks of melting snow.

'Nice to meet you', I said, 'looks like we're bunking together'.

'Uhuh, you're up top I'm afraid, unless you want to swap?', she asked. I shook my head. Phoebe was around my height, but more strongly built than me. She had strong features but was very pretty. In her state of undress, I could see that she was quite muscular for a girl, although not unattractively so. I could tell from her accent that she was definitely American, and I guessed she was from the North-West. Meg excused herself and slipped into the bathroom, leaving Phoebe and me alone.

'So what are you working as?', Phoebe asked, sitting down on the edge of her bed with her elbows on her knees, leaning forwards.

'I'm employed part-time as a lift operator, and part-time as a ski instructor', I replied. 'How about you?'

'I'm the same, although teaching snowboarding. I guess we might get put on the same lift shifts', she said. We made small talk as I looked around the room and began to unpack my things. The room was not exactly luxurious, and was obviously kitted out for staff. The walls were wooden, which gave it the look of a sauna. It was pretty small as well. There was a closet and a set of shelves, either side of which were the bunk beds, that were no more than 6 feet apart from one another. At the foot of my bunk bed was the bathroom, the door of which opened the other way into the empty space between the other bunk bed and the door to the room. On that wall was the only window. I liked the room though. It was cosy. It was cute. It was homely. It was also messy. Meg, Phoebe and Rhiannon had clearly not paid much attention to keeping the place tidy. There were socks, thermals, helmets and other ski-related paraphernalia scattered around the floor. There was a box of tissues by the other bunk, and a cell phone charger by the closet. A mostly-finished bottle of wine was located on one of the shelves, which I moved to put my clothes on.

'Yeah sorry about that!', Meg said as she came out of the bathroom. Picking up the bottle of wine and pouring it down the sink. 'Bit of a heavy night last night, I'm afraid!'. She took off her ski jacket and threw it on her bed.

I continued to unpack my suitcase while we chatted. Meg laid on her bed, after offering her help. There wasn't much space in the closet left, but I managed to hang up a few dresses and a spare pair of ski pants. As I got to the bottom of my bag and picked up my underwear, I realized that there were no drawers in the room. I looked at the shelves to see if the other girls had put their underwear on them, and on seeing that they had, I placed my panties and bras next to another pile, in the only remaining space.

'Better not get mixed up!', Meg said with a wink. Phoebe laughed, noticing that Meg's and my underwear had ended up next to each other. I smiled, and thought about just how familiar we were all bound to get over the next months. There would clearly be no hiding anything from each other in such a small space.

I stowed my suitcase under the bunk bed with my laptop and valuables in there. I looked out the window with a smile.

'I'll bet you want to hit the slopes for a run or two before the lifts close don't you?', Meg asked.

'You read my mind exactly!', I said.

'Come on then, let's get our stuff on and get out there', Meg said, walking over to Phoebe's bunk where she was lying. She gave her arm a tug pulling her half out of the bed.

'Hey, knock it off I'm shattered!', Phoebe said.

'No excuse loser', Meg replied and pulled her fully out of the bed and onto the floor.

'Alright, I'll do one run, that's it', she said, pulling on her pants and jacket again. 'Eww it's so wet and sweaty!', she complained.

Within 10 minutes we were all ready in our gear and were in 'the bootroom' - the place where all the skis and snowboards were kept. It felt good to have my ski boots on, and I was raring to go. Outside, Meg and I strapped on our skis and made our way to the nearest ski-lift while Phoebe ran down with her snowboard.

As we waited for the chairlift, Phoebe spoke to Ryan who was operating it. 'You've met Shannon right?'. He nodded and waved at me.

'Good to see you're so keen!', he said as the chair swung round and we were carried off up the lift.

On the way up I began to remember all the runs, where all the nasty black slopes were, and where the cafes were located. We looked down on good skiers, watched a young kid wipe out on a jump and commented on how good the snow had been in the first few weeks of the season. I felt at home already. Meg and Phoebe were welcoming and inclusive and I felt like I shared something in common with them.

As we got off at the top, Meg asked, 'now obviously this is your first run of the season, so maybe we should avoid the blacks?'.

'Yeah, we'll save the blacks for tomorrow but let's do something at least a little challenging', I replied, eager to prove myself.

Meg led us off to the left of the lift, down a well groomed but moderately steep blue. She had incredible form and looked so graceful on her skis. Phoebe and I followed, weaving in and out of each other and dancing round the trees and chairlift supports. It felt so exhilarating to be out in the fresh air, doing my favorite sport. Meg slowed to a stop on a ridge at a crossroads, 'doing ok Shannon?'.

'Loving it!' I said, lifting my mask up.

'We can carry on down here now or turn left and go down a narrow steep bit if you'd prefer?', Phoebe pointed out as she arrived behind us.

'Let's do the steep bit', I said, and we set off left, through a gap in the trees. It truly was steep, and narrow, and I had no choice but to let the gradient take me. Phoebe was clearly in the mood for competition, shooting off in front of me, with Meg taking it more cautiously behind me. We burst out of the trees and onto an open section that leveled out a bit, before dropping down to where we had taken the ski lift.

'You're a pretty good skier!', Phoebe said as we arrived at the lift and waited for Meg.

'Thanks, you're an amazing snowboarder!', I replied. Meg pulled up behind us, digging in her skis and covering us both with the snow that kicked up.

'Looks like someone is in the mood for a race!', she said, poking Phoebe with her ski pole. 'And I thought you said you were shattered!'

'Whatever, but yeah I'm up for a race!' she replied. We got back on the chairlift and were told that this would be the last chair of the day.

'Right, last place gets a forfeit yeah?', Phoebe said as we climbed.

'Sure, if you're up for that Shannon?', Meg said.

'Yeah totally!', I said with a smile, wondering what the forfeit could be.

'Loser has to buy the first round of drinks tonight!', Meg suggested.

'And skinny dip in the pool after it's closed tonight', Phoebe added. I was slightly taken aback, but thought the idea sounded fun.

'You're such a bad girl Phoebs', Meg said without looking at Phoebe.

At the top, we all agreed that the loser would be the last person to touch the trail map next to the chairlift. The route would be the same as we had just done. We lined up together, in a line, at the edge of the slope.

'Ready girls?', Meg asked.

'Ready', I said.

'Ready', Phoebe affirmed, 'you know what's on the line ladies!', she said with a giggle.

'Three, two, one, go!' Meg said, and propelled herself off with her poles. I managed to get a good start, but Phoebe, being a snowboarder, took some time to get up to speed.

I followed Meg's lines, expecting her to take it more easy on the steep narrow section, where I would be able to overtake her. As I made a turn, I chanced a look behind me and saw that Phoebe was coming up fast. As I looked back, I had to take evasive action to avoid hitting a child who had stopped in the middle of the run. That slowed me down and Phoebe was soon directly behind me.

As we turned left into the steep section, Meg did not slow down. In fact, she pulled herself into a tuck and got as streamlined as she could. I did the same, desperate to pick up speed and not come last. Phoebe didn't manage to get the same aerodynamic advantage, but nevertheless came out of the wooded section no more than 20 yards behind me.

We flew down the flatter section, my eyes on Meg. We were all within 15 yards of each other now. As the flat section ended and we began the dive down to the chairlift, Meg came out of her tuck to make the sharp right turn. As she did, she lost balance and went onto one ski to correct herself. The mistake caused her to lose her momentum, and though she was still ahead when she had recovered, I overtook her on the next sharp turn, my right hand virtually on the snow as I leaned in. Phoebe took the turn even faster and overtook me as we exited.

Now it was just down to the last 100 yards. I made myself as streamlined as possible, and tried to get into Phoebe's draft. I didn't dare look behind me at this speed, but the sign with the trail map soon appeared in front of me, and, after Phoebe slapped it with her hand as she went past, I did the same with my ski pole, and turned sharply to a halt. Meg took another half a minute to arrive, having slowed up since she knew she had lost.

As her face came into view, I could see her smiling ruefully and looking embarrassed.

'Right, so I've got to get the round of drinks right?' she said sarcastically.

'And?', I added with a giggle.

'And?' she repeated with a sarcastically innocent look.

'Take a plunge in the nude!', Phoebe finished for her.

'Seriously guys?' she said, as we took off our skis and helmets and headed to the bootroom.

'Yep, those were the terms!', Phoebe confirmed.

'Ok I'll do it so long as no one else is around', she said. 'And as long as you guys come with me'.

'Sure', I said, 'but we didn't lose so we won't be stripping down'.

'It's going to be a bit cold don't you think Shannon?', Phoebe said mockingly.

'Yes, even now it feels pretty cold out here', I joined in.

'Shut up you two', Meg said jokingly, as we took off our boots inside.

I reflected on my first afternoon here. I had made what I thought would be two pretty good friends. I had settled in nicely, and was pretty happy with where I was staying and what I was doing.

Back in the room, I took my laptop and phone, and headed to a lounge and got a coffee, leaving Phoebe and Meg in the room. I skyped my parents and sister, called my brother who was away in Latin America, and whatsapped my best friends from back home. All the while, I couldn't wait for the evening, to let my hair down and relax after the long journey.

To be continued