The snow mounted up over the jade branches of the fir trees that surrounded the
log cabin. Ben and Jon, two brothers from Gothenburg, were almost identical, but
Jon had a much stronger accent and lighter hair. They were having a break from
their jobs in their uncle's log cabin. They both worked in the local saw mill,
which is more factory than traditional lumber-jacking. They hadn't seen him for
years, but were supposed to be meeting him at his hut. The snow crunched under
the feet of the men who walked towards a whirring noise emanating from behind a
derelict hut, of which the roof had caved in after years of heavy snow storms.
Jon peered through the frosted glass, but was unable to see anything due to its
translucency. Meanwhile Ben continued to walk around to the back of the hut,
only to find the fuselage of a small, private plane. The streams of smoke and
steam were diffused by fallen branches of the surrounding trees. Ben called Jon
to come and assist him in the dubious task of looking for anything that would
suggest a reason for the plane to crash. Jon swung open the pilot door to, only
to have what seemed like a uniformed man slumped out, his head turning to find
his flesh had been rotted away by time. A bird, black as the night, flew out and
skimmed Ben just above his eye, breaking the skin. Jon lunged back to support
his brother and helped him to sit on a tree stump. After a few seconds they
turned round to further investigate the plane and its contents. Jon went to the
passenger door but was unable to open it due to a massively heavy branch between
him and the handle. Determined to find anything that could tell them what and,
more importantly, why this had happened, he picked up a rock. He held it,
playfully tossed it, caught it, and with no warning, turned and shattered the
glass of the window. He reached inside and pulled out a green canvas bag. As he
tugged, he scraped it on the remaining slivers of glass, that remained on the
frame of the window. Jon then took the bag under his arm and carried it over to
Ben. He squatted beside the bag and hastily unzipped it to explore its contents.
The first thing they came to was a tatty envelope, written on it were the words
"Open, when you have done what you have to". Ben suggested opening it,
but Jon paid no attention to him. He then followed his brother's eyes down to
the bag, he couldn't believe what he could see. Ben leant down to have a closer
look. Jon pulled out a wad of notes, it was money. Ben held, in each hand, at
least fifty $100 bills, they unloaded the stash as if they were tunnelling to
the bottom of the bag. There was money all over the snowy ground, they both
leant back and took a breather. They asked themselves what they had just found.
Another question that was asked as they made their way back to the cabin was who
was the pilot? Jon was freezing and as he put his hands in his pockets, he felt
the envelope that he had pulled out of the bag. He considered what to do with
the money with his brother. They had the option of informing the police or
keeping it for themselves. Just then Ben walked straight into a low hanging
branch, Jon criticised him by asking him why he did that. Ben worryingly replied
"I couldn't see it, what's wrong with me?". Images of possible causes
for this loss of eyesight flashed passed Jon's eyes. "Of course, it's the
bird!". Ben reached up and felt his stinging forehead, he could feel the
warm blood against the bitterly cold air. Ben, despite his lacking vision, took
charge of the situation. He claimed he should be in charge because of his
superior strength, which humoured Jon but he had no particular reason to argue
with him. Jon was convinced that the best option was to keep the money and share
it between them, and maybe their uncle. However, Ben was eager to give up the
money and to do the "right thing", which Jon thought was ludicrous.
"How can you be so stupid?" Jon shouted while pushing his partially
sighted brother onto the armchair in the hut. Both Ben and Jon were surprised by
his anger and strength, as he had always let Ben take charge and wouldn't argue.
The afternoon went slowly, the two fully grown men were fighting like school
boys. Jon was wearing the faded rug thin, waiting for the illustrious Uncle
David to turn up. The evening came and they decided to turn in for the night,
even when Jon was helping Ben up the stairs to the bedrooms. Ben slipped on one
of the last steps. He shouted out to Jon "help me, I'm slipping". He
thought, well, the money's as good as lost if he gets his way. Why should I help
him?" Ben tumbled in a bone-crunching fall down the stairs. He laid in a
pathetic heap on the floor. Jon knew what he had done, but couldn't believe it.
Even though he wasn't thinking straight and knew it, he reached for his coat and
lifted his brother over his shoulder. The snow was coming down like nothing he
had seen before. He was thinking about where he would put the body of his once
loved brother, he then had an idea that was pretty near perfect. As he went
towards the sight of the plane crash he thought about the money that is now his,
all his. He laid Ben in the passenger seat, but to put him there he had to lean
over the pilot's rapidly decaying body. As Jon staggered back to the log cabin
to pack up his things and to come up with an alibi he felt as though there was
something in his pocket. He remembered the letter and decided that then was as
good a time as any to open it. He couldn't believe what it said and was so
freaked out by this he almost vomited. Jon dropped the letter and ran back to
the log cabin, he was convinced he was being watched. The letter read: I am glad
you found my money, however it is a shame that you had to fight so atrociously
over, what was supposed to be, a gift. Jon, you did what you had to do. I am
proud of you.