"A Winter's Night Story"

JM Scott

An explorer in the bitter cold of the northwind. He said he was a scientist, always making measurements. And then he decided to go up the icy mountain to confront the weather and measure it.

The winter storm was too much for him and his equipment, his tent and his sleeping bag and his cooking utensils and his stove were torn from his grasp. And he was freezing, dying.

Then the Storm spoke to him. What if the snow felt warm, if you were the temperature of the snow? What would you do with that gift? He returned to the village, but now to be indoors made him hot since he was the temperature of snow and ice. So he returned to the mountain.

A winter’s night story.

(As is always true with storytelling, some of the incidental details caused the story teller’s listeners not to believe the story. Who ever heard of houses piled on top of each other as the explorer had described where he came from?)

About the Author: “JM Scott, OBE 1945, has succeeded as writer and explorer. He was secretary to the 1933 Everest Expedition and has published many books, including Gino Watkins and Icebound. For recreation he sails and goes mountain walking. His home is in Cambridgeshire.”

 Short Story International #14. Sylvia Tankel, Ed. June 1979, pp. 23-39.