Ice Break

 January 21st, what a memorable day...

I think I will never forget this day in my life...

In the early morning, around nine o'clock, I was passing by a river, and was about to have a cup of tea by the river under the bridge to ward off the cold, when I faintly heard what sounded like wolves howling. Wolves? Perhaps this isn't unusual in this desolate place (Wulipo, Wuzhong, Ningxia...). I've been in Ningxia for over a year and have only seen a wild fox once... I've never seen a wolf...

I listened carefully; the sound seemed to be coming from under a bridge arch. I walked onto the frozen river (the temperature was -15 degrees Celsius, and even the nearby Yellow River was frozen solid). Standing on the river, I looked into the bridge arch; it was pitch black. The arch was about 50 meters long, with no end in sight. The sound was coming from within, growing softer and softer...

I listened carefully; the sound was hoarse and hollow, slightly jarring in this desolate wilderness. It contained three parts fear, three parts weakness, three parts despair, and one part misery...

Suddenly, it occurred to me: could the wolf have fallen into the ice and frozen solid? Thinking about this moment, I took out my small knife (intending to cut the ice to save it...) and climbed along the frozen river into the bridge arch...

As soon as I entered the arch, the sound suddenly became much louder. Sure enough, the amplification effect of the bridge arch was very significant. After climbing about fifteen or sixteen meters, I saw it, but it was just a dog (the amplification of the bridge arch, plus the dog being frozen stiff, caused the sound to change...).

I continued climbing another five or six meters, and when I was about four or five meters away from the dog, I saw it by the light of my phone. It was a yellow dog, with only its head sticking out of the ice. At this moment, it suddenly barked a few times, which startled me. This dog, I don't know if it was afraid of me or what, suddenly moved. This movement was terrible... It was terrible, and I was terrible too...

As soon as it moved, I saw water splashing up from the edge of the ice. I was suddenly shocked. Why wasn't the river in the middle of the bridge arch completely frozen? (When I climbed into the underpass, I thought about the frozen river. Normally, even if the river freezes over in the cold weather, the area under the bridge won't freeze because the bridge pillars increase the water flow and prevent freezing... But in this underpass, the entire river was frozen solid, so there was no issue with water flow; it must have been completely frozen... Later I learned that there's a road above the underpass with cars passing by, so the temperature is relatively high, and the depth of the underpass is just right for insulation...) No wonder the dog fell into the water and got frozen; there was still river water under the ice in the middle of the underpass...

When it moved, disaster struck... It suddenly slipped and fell under the ice. I heard it drinking water, choking sounds accompanied by struggling. Sigh, when I saw water splashing at the edge of the ice, I was planning to back out, put down my phone, take off my clothes, and then try to save it. Maybe it was fate; how did it slip under the ice? Maybe it was only for a second. I thought, if I went back and came back in, it would be too late... Thinking that, I jumped out and grabbed the dog in the water. At that moment, the ice shattered, and I fell...

Instantly, I felt my boots were full of river water, it was truly bone-chilling... It was minus fifteen degrees Celsius at the time. In a panic, I grabbed the dog and threw it onto the ice, intending to run towards the cave entrance. The dog was on the ice when my Bluetooth headset beeped, indicating it had lost connection... My heart skipped a beat, the river water was waist-deep? (Because the phone was connected via Bluetooth, and it was in my waist pocket, the river water got into it, so was the phone going to die a heroic death...?) Before I could finish thinking, a sudden, icy pain shot through my waist. I tried to push myself up onto the still-intact ice like the dog, but the ice was too thin and broke again. Poor dog, it fell into the water again. I grabbed the dog, and at that moment, I felt that it was frozen stiff, its body rigid... In a panic, I put the dog on the still-intact ice and gave it a push. The dog slid for more than ten meters. I breathed a sigh of relief, waded through the water a few times, and used a little momentum to push myself up onto the ice again, but the ice still broke. At this point, the phone was definitely dead, because its only light went out...

I suddenly panicked. Everything went black, and my mind went blank. I only had one thought: if I was frozen inside, how long would it take before someone found me? Maybe we'll have to wait until next year when the ice melts and the water flows... Fear crept silently into my brain, spreading throughout my body. This fear felt even colder than the river water...

Just then, the dog barked a few more times. I thought to myself, dogs are so resilient; even frozen stiff, they can still bark. The fear I felt only lasted for 0.01 seconds before disappearing. In a panic, I quickened my pace, waded through the water a few times, leaned forward, and pounced on the ice. Finally, I got out. I carefully climbed a few steps, and when I felt the ice was solid, I slid quickly to the dog's side. I scooped the dog up and ran... Carrying

the dog, I crossed the road, reached the car, and finally saw Uncle Ma... I breathed a sigh of relief...

Uncle Ma looked surprised. "You...you...what happened to you?!" I gasped for breath. "I saved a dog! Quick, let's make a fire and warm it up!" After handing the dog over to Uncle Ma, I looked back and saw watermarks all over the road... I was soaked to the bone (my cotton pants and coat were completely drenched in sub-zero temperatures...), so I quickly stripped off my clothes and got into the car (embarrassing)... My dad came running after hearing the commotion and drove me to a hotel... I vaguely remember the old man at the hotel entrance giving me a surprised look when I ran there naked, as if to say, "This is sub-zero weather, do you think it's summer?"

That's the end of it. To all the friends who called, messaged me on WeChat, QQ, etc. these past few days, I'm sorry I didn't reply to you promptly. My phone couldn't be salvaged; the motherboard got into the river and tragically died. The phone I ordered from the official website just arrived yesterday, and I've lost all my contacts. I'm so sorry. My phone number is 18726861226. If anyone sees this, please leave your number or send me a text message. I would be extremely grateful…

It's such a pity. My phone contained seven years' worth of dreams… For seven whole years, the first thing I did every morning upon waking was to write down the previous night's dreams in my notes… This time, alas, it's truly all gone, completely gone… Since fate has decreed this, let it go with the wind…