Snowed In

Lumber Jack

Once I finish the dishes I put on my big winter coat and snow boots. I hope he doesn’t actually expect me to be able to cut a piece of wood in half. I’m not a tiny girl I’d be in the range of what they call ‘thick’ but I am definitely not wood cutting big. I walk out at the same time his axe connects with the wood making me jump. As I get closer to him I notice that even though it’s freezing out here he has sweat on his face.

“I’m assuming you’ve never cut wood before” he says

“Are you kidding? I could cut wood in my sleep” I scoff and he raises his eyebrow at me “No I’ve obviously never cut wood before” I say

“It’s pretty straight forward, swing the axe hit the wood” he says

“I feel like that is a lot easier said than done” I say

He hands me the axe, I hadn’t expected it to be really heavy. When he lets it go it pulls my arm downward.

“You really know how to show a girl a good time, huh?” I say and he laughs

“Just swing the axe over your shoulder then slam it on the wood as hard as you can” he says

So that’s exactly what I do, only it doesn’t go through the wood it just sticks in the top.

“How’d I do?” I ask him with a smile

“I give it a 2/10” he says

“I should get a 5 just for being able to swing it over my shoulder” I say

“It’s not that heavy” he says rolling his eyes

“Well you’re huge so of course its not heavy to you” I say

I start trying to pull the axe out of the wood but it’s not budging. Jack is covering his mouth to conceal his laugh.

“When I get this axe out of here the next thing I’m going to swing it at is you” I say

“Well the good news is I don’t think that will be any time soon, do you want some help?” He asks

I step back motioning my hands for him to step in. He grabs the axe handle and puts his foot on the piece of wood, with one hard pull the axe comes out.

“Whatever, I loosened it for you” I say

“I’m sure you did, Princess” he says smirking at me

“Oh haha that’s funny, Lumber Jack” I say

“Clever” he says handing me the axe again

“You want me to do it again?” I ask

“I believe in you” he says with a laugh

I roll my eyes at him. I swing the axe over my shoulder and slam it down on the wood again. It goes in a little further but still gets stuck.

“Here’s an idea, maybe I can just stand over there and cheer you on while you cut the wood” I say

“Ah, were you a cheerleader in school?” He asks

“No, I was on the debate team” I state

“Oh now that I believe” he says with a laugh

“I’m guessing you played football?” I ask

“That obvious?” He smiles

I shrug my shoulder while nodding

“So what did you do after high school?” I ask

He stiffens and I realize I may have just made him uncomfortable.

“I’m sorry, you don’t have to tell me I don’t want to pry” I say

“No it’s ok” he says shaking his head “I went into the Navy when I graduated and became a Seal.” He says

“Holy s**t, that’s incredible” I say

“It’s really not that big of a deal” he says

“I mean they don’t just pick anyone for that, you must be a bada**” I say

He scoffs and raises his eyebrows. I can tell he doesn’t want to talk about it anymore so I let the conversation die. I help him carry in all the wood he cut so that I could contribute in some way. I’m glad we are finally going inside because it’s f*****g freezing out here!