Bankruptcy

"Crap," He said aloud to himself, wishing he had not been so quick to toss his cell phone in the garage earlier, "Just what I need."

Another five miles of winding highway passed and still no exit. His car sputtered once or twice, alerting him that he was well past the point of alarm, and now in imminent danger of running out of fuel altogether.

When he thought at last that he would never find an exit from this blasted highway, at last, there appeared around a bend an un-marked exit. It was paved, but cut quickly into the trees and disappeared under the gloominess of the tree cover.

What the hell. If there’s no gas station, there might be a phone. He thought.

He turned his car off the highway onto the unmarked exit. The road was broad at first, and well lit through the gaps in the trees, but a few moments, the road narrowed to a single lane, and the trees arched over the road, covering it entirely. He was obliged to use his headlights just to see the edge of the pavement. The road now turned up a large hill off to his right, and despite his car’s protests from the lack of fuel, he urged it up the winding single-lane road.

About a mile passed, and his car finally decided it could go no farther. With a few short sputtering gasps, it stopped altogether.

He sat for what seemed an eternity, staring blindly out the windshield into the half-light from his headlights. There was no sign of a house or of a store, nor anything that might lead him to believe a phone might be nearby. About a hundred yards ahead, about as far as his headlights would reach, he saw the road finally crest at the top of the hill e had been climbing.

He reluctantly turned off his headlights and pulled upwards on the parking brake on his car until it caught. He took a deep breath and opened the door.

The air was much colder than he expected it to be. His breath was visible even in the near darkness. He thought momentarily about his coat hanging back in his office, but realized quickly that thinking of it did not help his situation. He rolled his shirtsleeves down and began walking.

All around him were thick, old trees, both on the sides of the road and above. But he was somewhat taken aback by the utter silence all around. It was late fall, but there should still be the sound of birds, forest creatures, or at least wind as it blew through the dark leaves, but there was nothing. It was disconcerting, to say the least.

By the time he reached the crest of the road, he was shivering with cold. His Italian Leather dress shoes were made for appearance, not functionality, as were the expensive suit pants he wore. They provided little protection from the chill. He stopped at the top of the road and peered ahead into the dim light. The trees fell away from the road quite suddenly from this point, giving him a wide view of the land ahead. The elevation fell away sharply and formed a deep, nearly round valley before him where the trees were not so thick, and the darkness not so complete. At the far end of the valley, huddled against the rising land of the far hills, there was a house peaking above the trees. The windows were well lit and the smoke from the chimney spoke of a warm fire.