They barely made it to the cabin before the roads became impassable. The snowstorm has been raging for over two hours. There wasn’t any going back now. Sarah could barely make out the cabin through the snowy veil. Her heart was pounding in her chest. She was having difficulty catching her breath. 
“Are you alright, Sarah, you look a little pale?” asked her husband, Paul.
“Yes, of course, I guess I’m just a little nervous about seeing all of them. It’s been a long time.
Paul hears Sarah take a deep breath and exhale. “Truthfully, I’m dreading it. Every conversation with them is like walking over an abyss. I always feel as if I take one wrong step, down I’ll fall. Never to be found again.”
“Don’t you think you’re a little overly dramatic, Sarah?
“No, I don’t. You don’t understand because you came from a normal family. Your parents and siblings love one another. You know when you tell your brother or sister something in confidence, it won’t come back and stab you in the heart. Your parents didn’t pit you against one another and make you feel you had to compete for love and acceptance.”
“Well, this is the last time you will have to see one another if that’s what you want. It’s only two days you’ll be all right, Sarah.”
As Paul pulls their Jeep into the driveway, Sarah can see that they are the last ones to arrive. She takes a deep breath and ties her scarf around her neck and puts on her gloves. Although it’s only a short walk from the car to the cabin door, she feels like she needs armor to guard her against the onslaught of pain and heartache that is sure to come her way.
“Go ahead in Sarah. I’ll get the luggage. Be careful the snow is quite deep, and there’s probably ice beneath it. There always is up here in the mountains.”
Sarah plows her way through the nearly two feet of snow. She feels the snow covering her boots and falling inside with each step. The wind is blowing with such force. She can hardly make her way to the door. She pulls open the heavy door, and the wind grabs it out of her hands. It bangs closed. Sarah pulls it open again, using all her remaining strength.
“Oh, for god’s sake, Sarah close the door. We just got it warm in here. I always forget how thoughtless you are.”
Sarah steps through the doorway and directly into the living room. It looks the same. Somehow, she expected it to look different since her parents weren’t here and never would be. “Hello Henry, nice to see you again too.”
“Where’s that good-looking husband of yours, Sarah? Did he run off with a younger woman?” Ask her sister Kate.
Sarah can feel her heart pounding nearly out of her chest now. She takes deep, slow breaths as she tries to compose herself. “He’s bringing in our luggage. He’ll be here in a minute.” Sarah thinks she rather be an orphan then be a part of this family, not for the first time but perhaps the millionth time.
When she was a teenager, she often fantasized that someday her real family would come and rescue her. She prayed and dreamed the wrong parents had somehow taken her home from the hospital. But the dream was just that a dream. Even she couldn’t deny her uncanny resemblance to her siblings.
Paul pulls open the door and throws the luggage through the doorway and lunges into the room. He slams the heavy wooden door closed.
“Well, no one will ever claim that you two don’t know how to make an entrance. What took you so long, anyway? We agreed to meet here at one o’clock, didn’t we?”
Sarah opens her mouth to answer, and nothing comes out.
“Well, perhaps the four of you didn’t notice, but there is a blizzard out there, and while you all only live an hour from here, we drove six hours. Do you have a problem with that? You’re lucky we made it here at all. The roads are nearly impossible to get through.
Sarah looks first at Paul with a small grateful grin on her face. Heaven’s she knows after a lifetime of experiences never to show any fear. For fear is a catalyst to attack for her brother and sisters. “Where’s Ellen, isn’t she coming?”
Sarah feels a slight lifting of her spirits at the thought that she wouldn’t have to endure a weekend with her older sister Ellen. Ellen took exquisite pleasure in presenting to the world a mask, of a benign and thoughtful person. But that’s all it was, a mask. In reality, Ellen is a wolf, whose saccharine words are laced with strychnine. Her words could cut you to the core and reside there in your soul and slowly eat it away. If you dare to protest, she would say, “Oh, Sarah is so sensitive. You can’t say anything to her without hurting her feelings. She never let’s go of the little hurts. She holds onto them forever. She’s always trying to get attention and make people feel sorry for her.
“Oh, Ellen’s here. She’s taking a nap. She said she’s been having trouble sleeping. Why don’t you two put your bags in the back bedroom while the rest of us start making lunch.”
Paul and Sarah pick up their bags and go into the back bedroom. “I’ll go get some bed linens, Paul. I’ll be right back.” Sarah stands in front of the linen closet, staring. She walks down the hall and quietly opens the bedroom door where Ellen is sleeping. She looks so innocent in her sleep, but doesn’t everyone. Sarah quietly closes the door and walks back down the hall to their bedroom.
As Sarah makes up the bed, she keeps telling herself, everything is going to all right over and over again like a mantra. Maybe if she says enough, it will be. There’s a knock at the door, and Paul opens it. Henry is standing there. “Well, I have some bad news. It seems as if the power is out. Hopefully, it’ll come back soon. Anyway, we’re going to have sandwiches, and I’m going to start a fire so we can have some hot coffee and tea. Later you and I will have to go out and see what the situation is with firewood. There should be some in the back, and there is a cord or so on the front porch. Lunch, such as it is, is ready. Henry turns on his heels and goes back to the kitchen.
“Oh my god, no power, this is going to be a long weekend. I’m going to lose my mind for sure.”
“Sarah calm down; it’s all going to work out. Don’t get so upset. Everything will be alright, I promise you.”
Sarah and Paul sit down at the table. Sarah looks around the table at her siblings. “What no, hello, no fond embrace Sarah?” Ellen’s expression is one of benign indifference.
“Hello Ellen, how are you? It’s been a long time.”
“Yes, it has Sarah. Did you forget my telephone number?”
“No, I didn’t think there was much more to say to one another since our last conversation. You were very clear about how you felt about me.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about Sarah, you and your active imagination. Always making things bigger than they are. You really ought to see someone about that, dear.”
“You know what Ellen maybe you should keep your mouth shut once in a while.”
Everyone stares at Sarah with disbelief. It seems almost unbelievable that she has finally stood up to Ellen after an entire lifetime of keeping her feelings to herself.”
“Good for you Sarah, it’s about time you told Ellen where she can stick it. She has always been such a bully with you. I always thought she was jealous of you.”
“Jealous of me, whatever for?”
“Well, your talent, slim figure, and sweet personality, to name a few. But I could go on and on.”
“Henry, thank you so much. I’ve always felt like such an outsider in the family. Even Mom and Dad often forgot about me.”
“Forgot about you? Dad treated you like the sun didn’t rise and fall unless you were around. He favored you over all of us.” Ellen all but shouted.
“Not that I was aware. Dad was always saying Sarah would argue with the pope, Sarah stop crying, or I’ll give you something to cry about. Oh yeah, I was his favorite, all right. He never once hugged me or told me he loved me in my entire life. I hate to think about how he would treat me if I weren’t his “favorite.”
“Sarah, maybe you forget he brought you a bagel home every day from work. He helped you buy your first car. He bought you that new sewing machine when you mentioned you like to have one. Why he never gave me the time of day. And when you moved away from home, he wrote you a letter every week. It broke his heart when you moved away, Sarah. How blind can you be? Oh, Sarah, why do you think he gave you the power of attorney when he was dying of cancer? You’re the youngest one. Henry should have been the one to take over their finances.”
“Well, I didn’t ask Dad to give me his power of attorney. He asked me to do it after he had a stroke. How can you or any of you blame me for what he did? If you remember, because I was given his power of attorney, I had to make all the hard decisions when he was dying of lung cancer. I had to take care of Mother after Dad passed away. I even had to pick out their caskets and pay for the burial ground. Not one word of thanks from any of you in all the years that followed.”
“Thank you, thank you for what?” Ellen asks.
” I’ve lost my appetite. It’s been a long day. I’m going to lie down for a while.”
“Oh, running away again, Sarah, how typical of you.”
“Just what do you want from me, Ellen? Do you want me to apologize because you felt Dad loved me more than he loved you? I never felt anyone loved me until I met Paul. He is the first person who ever showed me any kind of love.”
“Oh Sarah, we all loved you, you must know that. We’re just not a very affectionate family, are we?” Kate asks.
“Not affectionate that’s the understatement of all time. I can’t think of a more cold and uncaring person than the three of you. Not one of you has ever had a kind word for me in my life. At every opportunity, Ellen, you have ridiculed me and made light of my feelings and my accomplishments. I don’t give a damn what reason you have for the way you have behaved towards me.”
“Sarah, for heaven’s sake stop carrying on, you’ve always been such a crybaby. No one could ever say boo to you without you running off and crying to mother. You run away whenever things get difficult. Well, go ahead and leave tomorrow. I certainly won’t miss you.”
“Ellen, you always take things too far. You know that Sarah is a sensitive person and easily hurt, and you take advantage of it. Sarah, please don’t go tomorrow. This weekend is our last chance to work things out between us, besides it’s not safe to drive on the roads. You’ll have to wait until the roads are cleared off.”
“Kate, you’re a little late to be sticking up for me now. Neither you nor Henry ever said a word when Ellen browbeat me throughout my childhood. The only reason I came here was to say goodbye and good riddance to all of you. When you sell this house, I don’t want any part of it. Divide it between the three of you. We’ll be leaving as soon as it’s safe to drive on the roads.”
“Paul, how about going outside with me and collecting wood for the fireplace. Just in case we don’t get the power back for a while?”
“What now? Yes, alright, Henry, let me get my coat. I’ll meet you outside.”
As Paul and Henry step out into the howling snowstorm, Kate walks over and puts her arms around Sarah. Please don’t leave Sarah. Henry and I and especially Ellen, want to work towards becoming a real family. After all, we are the only people left in our family. You know it was Ellen’s idea to have this get together. I know she can be a total ass sometimes, but she wants things to get better.”
Sarah looks over at Ellen and says. “Well, it must be deep inside because I don’t see any evidence of her trying to change her behavior towards me. All right, I’ll try, but I’m not making any promises. I’ll give her another chance but only one.”
“Wonderful, why don’t the three of us start looking through some of Mom and Dad’s papers and see which ones we should keep and which ones we can get throw away. Ellen, will you come over here? We’re going to start looking through the paperwork. I’ll get the boxes out of the hall closet.”
As Kate goes on her quest, Ellen comes over to Sarah and sits down on the couch and says,” look, Sarah, you’re right, I’m being a jerk. I’ll try and be less of an ass, old habits die-hard. I know you don’t believe it, but I do love you and always have. I’m just not good at expressing it. I’m jealous of you. You always keep in such great shape. Everyone adores you on sight, and it seems you were the recipient of all the talent in the family.”
A tear slides Sarah’s cheek and is quickly followed by another. Ellen hands her a tissue. Sarah wipes her face dry and says, “Oh Ellen, don’t you know how much I looked up to you all my life. I wanted to be just like you, so full of confidence. Successful at whatever task or goal you set for yourself. I used to follow you all over the place when I was a kid.”
Ellen puts her arms around Sarah and gives her the first hug she can remember. And before you know it tears are flowing down both their faces.
Kate looks from one to the other and says,” What’s happening here, jeez? I was only gone a few minutes?
“I think that we’re having our first real conversation that’s what’s happening. Well, let’s see what kind of papers you found.”
As the day passes, the sisters’ find pictures of them from all the summers they spent here with their parents all those years. Sarah is surprised by how many pictures there are of her and Ellen doing things together when she was little. She looks at one picture of the four of them together in their old rowboat, and the joy that their faces described is priceless. It means more to her than any amount of money they might make from selling the cabin.
Paul and Henry come blustering back inside. And Paul is amazed to see Sarah and Ellen and Kate with their heads bent down and alternately laughing and crying. He and Henry exchange looks and Paul says
“Well, Henry, why don’t the two of us play chef while these sisters spend some time revisiting their past and becoming reacquainted.”
“Yes, why don’t we? It looks like we’ll be spending the next few days together, after all. I never thought losing the power would bring about such a happy ending.
