Time in a Bottle

Pierre and Roxanne have an unwavering love for each other. He is her Romeo, her Samson and her Lancelot; she is his Juliette, his Delilah and his Guinevere.

They met in the student cafeteria at the college they both attend. It was about two in the afternoon; the lunchroom was nearly empty. She was sitting alone reading from her notes while eating her lunch. He sat down at the table next to her; it was nearest the window.

He immediately began to unpack his backpack. His laptop, a thermos, an apple, a sandwich, reading glasses; the stuff kept piling up on the table. Within a minute he had the entire table filled with his things -- he put his backpack on the floor near his feet.

He looked around at the things he had placed on the table. He frowned, got up and went to the lunch counter to get some napkins.

He opened two of the napkins, meticulously placing one on top of the other. Next he opened a pocketknife and began to carefully cut his apple into quarters. After that, he cut out the center of each quarter, returning each quarter to the opened napkins. He put the cut out pieces onto another napkin on the opposite side of his table. Then he opened another napkin and covered the four pieces of apple.

Once he was finished with his apple, he opened two more napkins -- again carefully placing one on top of the other. He took his sandwich out of its plastic container and cut it diagonally in half. He placed one section near the edge of his makeshift placemat and covered it with a napkin. He put the other section in the center of his placemat.

He turned on his laptop, put his glasses on, opened his thermos and began to eat his sandwich, occasionally biting into an apple quarter.

All his detailed actions caused Roxanne to look up from her reading. She couldn't help but smile. Never before had she seen someone exhibit such thoroughness when eating. 'To each his own,' she said to herself and went back to her own reading and lunch.

Suddenly someone on the other side of the lunchroom yelled out "Fuck, I'm late for class" and ran out of the cafeteria.

Pierre immediately apologized to Roxanne. "You'll have to forgive some of my classmates. They have no respect for women."

"What?" Roxanne answered him. His statement confused her.

"That student who just ran out of here, he cursed."

"Oh, that doesn't bother me. It's not like I've never heard profanity before; I have three brothers. Besides, I don't have anything against it."

"Me neither," Pierre answered her. "I curse myself. But there's a time and place for everything. When I'm with mixed company I try to watch my language."

"You're a real gentleman," she quipped. "They're hard to find these days."

Pierre blushed several shades of red.

It was at that moment that Roxanne decided that she liked this attentive white boy. His long black hair and thick black eyelashes accentuate his deep blue eyes. He appeared to be short but his shoulders are broad. His muscled arms give him the look of someone who regularly works out. She could just barely make out his rippled stomach beneath his T-shirt. The rest of him was hidden below the table.

She asked him his major. He told her that he was studying accounting; he wants to open up his own tax preparation business someday. When she pointed out to him that that is seasonal work, he added that he also hoped to own and captain a charter yacht for those who want to vacation in the Bahamas, the Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands or other places in the Caribbean Sea.

She told him that she was studying geology. She had no idea what she wants to do once she finished college. Nor did she know why she was studying geology. She liked reading about dinosaurs when she was in high school. But so far she had only taken one course that covered the subject. All her other geology courses had been about plain rocks.

They are as different as any white man and black woman can be. He is conservative; she is liberal. He likes quiet evenings home alone; she likes wild raucous parties. He knows exactly what he wants to do and where he is going with his life; she has no directions and is taking each day as it comes. He is from the poorer section of town and is working his way through college. She is the daughter of the former mayor; her tuition and books are paid for by her parents. She lives with her parents.

But then it is their differences that attract them to each other. They begin dating and soon develop a strong love for each other. They are inseparable, going to night clubs, restaurants, parties, sporting events, picnics, camping and doing many other such things together. They also spend many quiet evenings together in his apartment just watching television and eating popcorn.

In fact, it is their constant togetherness that puts an end to their plans.

They were scheduled to spend the weekend with some friends on Martha's Vineyard off the coast of Massachusetts. But at the last minute the two of them decide to drive up to his uncle's Vermont hunting and fishing lodge on the shores of Lake Champlain across from Split Rock Mountain, New York. Their main reason for doing so is so that they can have a romantic weekend alone together. His birthday is the following Sunday and they want to celebrate it in a special way.

So the first Friday of a cold January afternoon they say good-bye to their friends, load up her sport utility with some food and winter camping gear and head for the mountains. What they don't know is that there is a heavy snowstorm heading south from Canada as they are heading north.

The snow starts to come down just before they cross the Vermont state line. It is still coming down when they turn off Interstate 91 onto Interstate 89 for their trip into Burlington. Roxanne comments how wonderful it will be to have snow on his birthday. She intends to build a snowman in front of the lodge just for him.

By the time they arrive in Burlington the snow is coming down hard. They debate whether or not to proceed south on U.S. Highway 7 for the last leg of their journey. Pierre checks with the state police and they tell him that the roads are safe for the time being. They stop to gas up the car and to get something to eat at a fast food restaurant.

It is while they are eating that the weather takes a turn for the worst. As they are coming out of the restaurant and into the parking lot, a gust of arctic wind blasts them. Both lovers are too anxious to get into the warmth of the SUV to notice that the temperature has dropped considerably.

They have been traveling along US 7 for quite some time before the snow really gets bad. In fact, the snow has become blinding. Pierre is driving but he can't see much farther beyond the front of the car. The SUV keeps sliding all over the icy highway.

Pierre is worried about getting into an accident with another car. He reduces his speed. Roxanne is just hoping to get to the cabin before it gets too late. She wonders whether or not Pierre is lost. She hasn't seen any road signs for quite a while.

"How much further?" she asks.

"It's not much further," Pierre responds. "I think I saw a cabin that I recognized a few minutes ago. It shouldn't be long now."

But silently he is worried. He only half recognized the cabin he spoke of. In truth, visibility is too low to distinguish anything. He continues to drive into the night.

After ten or fifteen minutes, Pierre slows the car to a crawl and looks hard out of the right side window. Roxanne looks too. Yes, there is a cabin there. But he can't identify it; it is too far from the road. Turning his attention back to the front windshield, he sees that the road has suddenly turned to the left. He quickly turns the steering wheel but the SUV skids into the ditch alongside the road.

The two occupants are thrown to the passenger's side of the car -- neither was wearing a seat belt.

Pierre comments that he is glad that the air bags didn't deploy; they were driving too slow and the accident wasn't serious enough. However, Roxanne did hit her head against the side window.

Pierre attempts to back out of the ditch. But the tires only spin wildly. He gets out and examines the car. They are stuck.

He climbs back into the car. Roxanne complains about her head; Pierre's right shoulder is beginning to hurt him a little bit. He helps Roxanne out of the car and into the blinding snowstorm. They slowly make their way to the cabin. Pierre carries Roxanne most of the way there using his left arm.

Luckily the front door is not locked. Pierre helps Roxanne to a green sofa just inside and to the left of the door and then goes to see if he can find a blanket and some pillows. He returns a few moments later with one pillow and a thin blanket that he found in a closet.

After covering Roxanne -- she is just lying on the green sofa with her eyes closed -- he feels for his cell phone but it is not in his pants pocket. He figures it must have fallen out when the car crashed. He knows that Roxanne's phone is in her purse; still in the car. He sits on the floor next to her and ponders what he will do next -- go for the phones or rest a bit.

He decides to rest first. There is no hurry; neither of them is hurt too bad. Besides, a tow truck probably won't come out at this time of night in this storm.

He closes his eyes.

Pierre wakes up with a start; it is morning. Roxanne is still sleeping. He goes to the door to try to open it but he can't; it is stuck. He looks out the window next to the door. The snow is about waist high and piled up against the door.

He begins to survey the cabin.

It has two small bedrooms, one small bathroom, a kitchenette and one large living room. He does not enter the bedrooms or the bathroom; he just peeks into each room.

There is the head of a stuffed ten point buck above what used to be a fireplace that has been sealed up. Directly below the buck is a framed photograph of a man kneeling on one knee next to the dead deer. He is holding a bow and a quiver of arrows in one hand. The other hand is holding onto the whitetail deer's antlers. He is smiling broadly.

Above the mantle and below the whitetail deer's head is a wooden plaque. Carved into the plaque is the statement 'Sam's Hideaway.' There is a large butane gas heater in front of the former fireplace but it does not have a butane tank attached to it.

On the other side of the living room, to the right of the front door, is a clothes tree with an empty coat hanger on it. There is an easy chair and one small end table in the far right corner. There is a lamp and a copy of a nudity magazine on the table. Along the far wall is a dark red sofa. There are large double windows behind this sofa, looking out toward the road.

In the far left corner is a three lamp stand. Midway between the fireplace and the left corner is a television stand minus the TV. There is a DVD of the 1988 movie Beetlejuice on the stand.

The fireplace is directly across from the front door. The door leading into the bedrooms and bathroom is to the left of the fireplace, as one looks at it. The green couch -- the one upon which Roxanne is sleeping -- is near this door, midway between it and the front door. This sofa also separates the living room from the breakfast bar which is behind it.

The breakfast bar separates the living room from the kitchenette. There are three barstools in front of the bar.

There is no phone, television, radio or any other communication device in the living room or in any of the bedrooms.

Pierre is hungry so he goes to the little kitchenette in search of food. Both the refrigerator and the cupboard are full of food, canned goods -- both meat and vegetables -- peanut butter, jam, soft drinks, beer, butter, frozen waffles, ice cream, several boxes of rice, cereal, instant potatoes and instant macaroni and cheese. There is enough food to last several hunters a couple of weeks.

Roxanne comes and stands next to him as he is looking over the food; she puts her arm around his waist. They tell each other that they will leave a note explaining about their accident. They will also leave some money in the refrigerator for any food that they eat.

Roxanne then puts some frozen waffles in the toaster while Pierre puts some plates and utensils on the bar and gets the syrup and butter.

They eat their breakfast while making plans on what they want to do as soon as the snow melts enough for them to get out of the cabin. The first thing Pierre wants to do is inspect the damage to her SUV. He tells Roxanne that he didn't get an opportunity to do it the night before. He says that he is going to try again to drive the car out of the ditch and failing that he will call a tow truck.

After breakfast Pierre again tries to open the door while Roxanne washes the dishes. The door is still stuck. Pierre again looks out the window to inspect the weather conditions. It is snowing. He returns to the kitchenette just as Roxanne is wiping off the breakfast bar. He puts his arms around her waist, hugging her tightly from behind. He kisses her on the nape of her neck.

She turns in his arms, puts her arms around his neck and kisses him hotly on the lips. Their tongues entwine. He caresses her left breast with his right hand. She moans as he presses himself against her yielding body. She presses her hips into his lean figure.

"Want to make love?" he asks her. He is smiling. His eyes are sparkling.

"We can't do that here. This isn't our cabin. Besides, suppose the owner comes in and catches us?"

"We are snowed in; no one can come in or out. We'll be here for a day at the least," Pierre continues.

"Are you sure? I wouldn't want someone to walk in on us while we're having fun," Roxanne asks him.

"I'm sure," he picks her up and carries her to the green sofa. Within seconds they are both naked and making love.

After, they are wrapped in the blanket, lying side by side.

"Wouldn't it be great if we were trapped here, snowed in for months, just the two of us?" Roxanne asks. "We could spend the rest of the winter just making love."

"Why wish for just a couple of months? Why not wish to be stranded here for the rest of our lives."

"Oh Pierre I could spend an eternity here with you. I would spend every moment of it making love with you." She kisses him on his lips and pulls his body closer to herself.

After they break the kiss, she asks him, "How's that song by Jim Croce go? 'If I could put time in a bottle, I'd save every day just to spend them with you till eternity passes away,' or something like that."

"It's something like that," he answers her. He sits up. He looks down at her supple breasts. He flicks her left nipple with his first finger.

"You are the most beautiful woman I have ever met."

"I'm not beautiful," she answers him. "My breasts are too small."

She gets up and walks naked across the room to the door. She tries to open it but it won't budge. She turns to face Pierre. She leans against the door. He is just watching her.

Suddenly Roxanne puts her hand near her mouth, as though she is holding a microphone.

"News flash," she calls out. "Pierre and Roxanne are stranded on a mountaintop. Buried in by an avalanche, they . . ."

"You're naked my love," Pierre reminds her. "Anchor women don't do the news in the nude."

"Will you stop interrupting me? This is my newscast. Besides, here at WSEX we always do the news in the nude." She smiles at him and thrusts her chest out.

"As I was saying before I was rudely interrupted by my cameraman. Pierre and Roxanne were buried in an avalanche last night. For this exclusive interview we here at WSEX take you live to their mountaintop cabin."

Roxanne walks back to the sofa. She is standing; he is still sitting on the sofa. She puts her right hand up near her mouth. "The weatherman says that you could be stranded here for months. How do you plan to spend your time up here?"

She puts her right hand near Pierre's mouth. "I intend to spend every minute of every day making love to you till eternity passes away," he tells her.

"Doing nothing but making love with your lover for eternity, that sounds exciting. It's something that I myself might like to try. But tell us Pierre; is your lover of the same opinion? What are you going to do if she tells you no?"

"Then I guess I'll just have to spank her naughty ass," he smiles at Roxanne.

She purrs an answer, "Oh, you are a mean one, aren't you?"

"No not really. I only spank her when she refuses to cooperate with me in bed."

"Tell us, how often is that? How often do you have to spank your lover's naked ass?"

"Oh I don't know, maybe once or twice a month. Most of the time, she is pretty cooperative. We love each other very much. Neither of us would ever do anything to that would hurt each other." Pierre is smiling broadly.

Roxanne turns away from Pierre to face the living room. She again holds her hand up near her mouth. "There you have it ladies and gentlemen. Pierre and Roxanne intend to spend eternity making love in their mountaintop cabin."

Pierre reaches up and grabs her around the waist, pulling her down to the sofa. Roxanne screams in delight as her gropes her and tickles her. They make passionate love again.

After, they get dressed and inspect their surroundings, going into each room and making an assessment of what they have.

Other than the food in the refrigerator and the cupboard -- both appear to have been recently replenished -- the cabin is empty. Except for pillows, the beds are bare. There is another thin blanket in one of the bedroom closets. Both bedrooms have butane gas heaters, minus the butane tanks.

The bathroom only has one extra roll of toilet paper. There is a bottle of mouthwash, a bottle of hydrogen peroxide, a dirty glass and a well used toothbrush in the medicine cabinet.

Two kitchenette drawers have some mismatched utensils. Except for some dishtowels, a writing pad and pencil, the other drawers are empty. They overlook a deck of playing cards in one of the drawers.

One cupboard has two rolls of paper towels, some paper plates and plastic cups. The other cupboards have several mismatched dishes, cups and glasses, several pots of various sizes and three different size frying pans. Below the sink are some cleaning supplies and a box of plastic garbage bags. The oven and stove are electric; there is no microwave oven. There is a toaster on the counter top.

It is evident that the owner uses this cabin strictly as a hunting and fishing lodge, a place to get away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life.

They both peer out of the window above the sink. There is nothing to the rear of the cabin but leafless trees; the ground is covered with snow. A light snow continues to fall.

They return to the green sofa. Both are looking blankly at the empty television stand on the left side of the room. Roxanne comments that she wishes there was a television or radio or something with which they could occupy their minds until the snow melts and they can be on their way.

Pierre suggests they play charades. Roxanne thinks that is a great idea. She asks him if she can go first. He says yes.

She stands up and tells him that the topic is movies. She then begins to pantomime a ghost for the 1990 movie Ghost. But Pierre knows that that is her favorite movie and guesses it right away. She complains that she should be allowed another try since she chose the wrong movie. Pierre agrees and lets her do a second movie.

Roxanne then begins to pantomime taking a tray of ice cubes out of a freezer. Pierre guesses ice and she points to him, indicating that he is correct. Next she pretends to build a sand castle. After several minutes Pierre finally guesses the 1978 movie Ice Castles. Roxanne is ecstatic that he has guessed her movie and jumps up and down to show her joy.