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| - Night was falling along with a heavy early December snow in the Porcupine Mountains of Michigan's Upper Peninsula. The mountains stood tall and silent, cloaked in a thick white blanket, as a small road wound through the valley like a snake. On this road, almost insignificant against the mammoth landscape, were the headlights of a car. "This is Ranger Fred Montgomery," said the amiable voice on the other end of the line. "How can I help you?" "Where are you?" Montgomery asked casually. "I'll leave my blinker on," Dr. Harper told him. "Thank you for all your help, Mr. Montgomery."
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| abstract
| - Night was falling along with a heavy early December snow in the Porcupine Mountains of Michigan's Upper Peninsula. The mountains stood tall and silent, cloaked in a thick white blanket, as a small road wound through the valley like a snake. On this road, almost insignificant against the mammoth landscape, were the headlights of a car. Dr. James Harper was driving home to the small town of Penmount from a medical convention in the nearby town of Albiville. The snow was impairing his vision, so he had to drive slowly and carefully to avoid running off the steep cliff which ran precariously close to the road. At the bottom of the thousand-foot cliff was a river, frigid and ferocious in the midst of the winter storm. Suddenly, something large and black leaped into the road directly in front of him. Dr. Harper gasped and slammed on the brakes, but he couldn't stop quickly because of the icy condition of the road. His car slid off the road and down the bank towards the edge of the cliff. "No, no," he said to himself as his car neared the brink. His heart beat harder and harder as he realized that he could very well die on this dark, cold night. He could just see a brief article in The Penmount Tribune with the headline "Doctor Dies in Freak Accident." Just as he was expecting to find out what his eternity would bring, his car crashed to a halt. The thick root of a tree growing on the edge of the cliff had caught the rear axle, halting the small car as it was about to plummet down into the raging water below. Heart still pounding, Dr. Harper took out his cell phone and dialed the number of the nearby ranger station. "This is Ranger Fred Montgomery," said the amiable voice on the other end of the line. "How can I help you?" "Mr. Montgomery," gasped Dr. Harper, "My name is James Harper and I'm stuck on the edge of a high cliff. I don't know how I've been stopped, but I need you to get me out of here before whatever's holding me in place decides to let go." "Where are you?" Montgomery asked casually. "I was on Route 77 when some wild animal landed in front of me," Dr. Harper explained. "Then I took an awful turn off the road." There was a frustrated sigh on the other end. "All right, I'll be out there with my truck as soon as I can," Montgomery replied. "In the meantime, stay as still as you possibly can. One false move could send you off the cliff. Can you signal me somehow?" "I'll leave my blinker on," Dr. Harper told him. "Thank you for all your help, Mr. Montgomery." "The pleasure's all mine," Montgomery replied and then he hung up. However, almost the very second Dr. Harper put his phone down, there was a creak and the car started to move. "Oh, no...please, no..." whimpered the short, middle-aged doctor. He couldn't die - he had two teenagers and they had already lost their mother. Didn't the universe know he needed to live? The car was sliding very slowly toward the edge, which wasn't more than a few feet away by now. Dr. Harper would have screamed, but he couldn't make any sound in his throat. He could feel the car gaining speed little by little as it was freed from the root's weakening grasp. Finally, he decided he had to risk getting out and opened the door. That little jolt was all it took to completely free the car's front axle. As soon as the door opened, the car slid forward toward the edge of the cliff. Harper fell out into the freezing snow and started rolling downhill. He reached out and was relieved as he grasped a tree root. As he pulled himself toward the tree trunk, he heard the car groaning as it teetered on the cliff's edge and tumbled into the abyss. "Great," he said to himself. With his blinker gone, he wouldn't be able to make the ranger see him. Just as he was thinking this, Dr. Harper heard the rumble of a motor as though on cue. On the road above, he saw the headlights of the ranger's truck. As he ran for the truck, Dr. Harper began to wave his arms wildly, in the hope that the light would catch them. However, the snow was coming down so heavily he wasn't sure it would do any good. It didn't and Dr. Harper watched in dismay as the truck passed on and drove around the curve and out of sight. Something else had spotted him, however. As the doctor vainly shouted for the ranger to come back, a large beast pounced on him from the right, knocking him from his hold on the tree trunk. As he and the animal tumbled toward the cliff, he struggled with it, but then he felt a horrible, icy pain as the animal's teeth puncture his arm. Dr. Harper let out a piercing, blood curtailing scream that no one heard. He would surely die now...
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