Part 1 of 1
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Tonight, we present a tale of snowy terror and survival, as told from Capital City to the slopes of Aspen.
The Skinner Co. Network
FPSE15 - The Legend of the Wolfe Family’s Vacation, part 1 of 1
Some days, gloomy, my hours are slumberless Dearest, the shadows I live with by nonetheless Little wife flowers will never awaken you Not where the bright coach of sorrow ends taking you Angels have no fire of evolution in you Would they be angry if I saw them join in you? Welcome to FlashPulp Special Episode 15 This evening we present The Legend of the Wolf Family's Vacation Part 1 of 1 This week's episodes are brought to you by Nutty Bites Wake up. Go to work. Work. Come home. Eat dinner. Rot your brain out. Go to bed. Lather. Rinse. Repeat. Are you tired of an old humdrum life? Tired of things that just weigh you down and depress you? Wouldn't you rather just focus on things that are awesome? Tune in to Nutty Bites. Find out what's awesome. Nutty Bites. Nimlas.org/blog FlashPulp is an experiment in broadcasting fresh pulp stories in the modern age Three to ten minutes of fiction brought to you Monday, Wednesday, and Friday evenings Tonight, we present a tale of snowy terror and survival As told from capital city to the slopes of Aspen The Legend of the Wolf Family's Vacation Written by J.R.D. Skinner, art and narration by Opopinax and audio produced by Jessica. ♪ I'm glressing you ♪ ♪ With the strength of my soul ♪ ♪ I'll be the last to sing you ♪ ♪ Glue me Sunday ♪ A tale told in ski lodges and around winter campfires The details surrounding the Legend of the Wolf's Vacation have changed little over the four decades in which it has been known to be circulating The story opens on a family of city dwellers who've long dreamt of an alpine retreat While the income from their jointly built business will likely never afford them such a thing the pair have managed to save enough for a week's holiday at whatever ski resort or a mountainside oasis is closest to the current telling Their cabin is but an hour's snowmobiling from the main launch and their children, said to be aged somewhere between seven and twelve, love the experience of flying through the wooded paths and the sled behind the machine All is rosy cheeks and hot chocolate until three days into the trip Mr. Wolf is thrown from the ski doo after miscalculating a turn Able to write herself and collect her children, Mrs. Wolf discovers that her husband, while still alive, has been badly mangled in a landing against a fallen pine The timber's shattered dead branches have pierced the meat of his thigh and his lower leg has been largely ripped away at the knee In a panic, she applies a tourniquet to his wound and turns the vehicle back towards the lodge It is simple bad luck that drives them into a blizzard and the whiteout sends the ill-fated travelers onto the wrong path Three hours of lost wandering later The blowing snow and dropping temperatures force the concerned woman to take shelter when she encounters a small cabin She prays she'll find a helpful occupant, or at least a phone But the two-room log structure lays empty and cold Setting the elder of her children to lighting a fire from the lean stalk of kindling available beside the cast-iron stove, Mrs. Wolf drags her injured husband to the shanty's only bed and draws the door shut A closer examination of the trauma provides her no further hope Though her husband is often said to wake briefly and either blame her for the incident or provide selfless advice regarding the children Whatever the case, the mother is left with only her wits and the supplies at hand Inventorying the barren cupboards is a quick task and she realizes the awful hasn't been used in months She does, at least, locate a small axe and a trio of tin cups Using the vessels, she takes to melting snow over the flames so that she might clean the gore and keep her children hydrated When the storm clears, hours later, the woman believes things might finally be taking a turn for the better But it is then that she discovers the crack in the snowmobile's gas tank and the wasted mix of fuel and slush beneath her escape vehicle With no way to transport her injured spouse, she hauls the machine to a position easily visible from above and, thus, hopefully to rescue crews and returns to the now warm but all too close interior Time passes slowly She does her best to soothe her husband in his few waking moments which he spends sobbing in pain while maintaining high morale in the youths who lurk just beyond sick room's door Camp games and eye-spy do nothing for their hunger, however and shortly the bits of candy they've been carrying in their pockets are but a memory and more water does little to fill the void The lumber supply runs low and collecting fresh wood is no easy task As soon the meager furniture is broken down and tossed into the flame Days pass Occasionally the mother risks moving into the forest, attempting to find sight of civilization but fear of accident or becoming lost always drives her back On the seventh morning, she leaves for a briefer period than most Then bursts in suddenly from the cold "I caught a rabbit," she says, holding up a cut of flesh The children grow teary-eyed with joy By using the ancient axe and the skills learned in her years at the deli, she cubes the meat and cooks it in the depths of the tin cups When Mr. Wolf awakens, an increasingly rare event The smell is even enough to raise his spirits, and he calls for a meal from his adjoining chamber Despite the brief respite, no helicopters appear, no ranges arrive, and the days return to their monotony More of Mrs. Wolf's time is spent in collecting frozen through branches, and less of husband's time is spent complaining, until, on the twelfth evening, he finally expires The children fall asleep that night to the weeping of their mother, unable to fight the fatigue of their own malnourished bodies any longer When they rouse in the morning, their mother is gone, and their wailing intensifies An hour later, she reappears "I couldn't sleep, I had to go for a walk, but, look, I got a deer with the axe!" This meal is not so joyous as the last, but they are thankful for the morning feast The days take up a pattern of emptying bellies punctuated by a parade of slaughtered animals Finally, two months into the ordeal, with springs slowly approaching and their energies nearly spent, mother Wolf stumbles through the halve's entrance She's using her trusty axe as a cane, and she's missing her left foot Before the kids might reach her to provide support, she drops dead The trail of blood, and their winters fast, bring coyotes to the door that night And the children spend their last hours in the cabin in utter terror The pack's hungry calls, however, also bring the shelter's owner A rancher who has claim on a broad stretch of the surrounding area And who usually only visits this corner of his plot during the summer hunting expeditions As he approaches, the cattleman notices the crimson path But still expecting the tumult to be over an injured buck or doe He follows it first to its point of origin It is then that he discovers the rocky platform No easy climb, even with the makeshift ladder that leads to it And the human remains above The bones have been stripped of flesh, not by animal life But by hand, taught the art of butchery in the years of processing pig and cow While operating the wolf's shared storefront Before departing to rescue what remained of the family, he finds two An accidentally sliced tourniquet And the recently removed foot, still resting between the stones It meant to hold it in place for the mother's swing Flashpulp is presented by flashpulp.com And is released under the Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial 3.0 Unported License Text and audio commentaries can be sent to comments@flashpulp.com But be aware that they may appear in a future flashcast We'd also like to thank the FreeSound Project found at freesound.org For a full listing of effects used during the show, as well as credits for the users who provided them, check this episode's notes at flashpulp.com And thanks to you for listening If you enjoyed the show, please tell your friends [Music] Sunday is gloomy, my hours are stumbled Here with the shadows I live with are stumbled [Music]