- "Lust for adventure, lust for discovery, lust for triumph, longing for this feeling of sheer vitality, sheer immortality, to last forever, to feel the burning in their lungs and the arrowheads of the wind biting into their cheeks."
Snowmobiles is the second story in The Yellow Butterflies. It depicts two men struggling to escape a ravine after crashing their snowmobiles while exploring in the arctic.
A PDF of the current draft can be found here.
The following sections contain spoilers. Read at your own risk.
Plot Overview[]
Two explorers - Clive and Steven - return from a dog-sledding expedition. They're operating under the Ruby Lou exploration team, and are trying to discover any hidden wonders before their rival team, the Lejon Ros. After meeting with their director, the two hit the hay.
The next day, Clive and Steven set out for another exploration, this time on snowmobiles. However, after finding nothing and while being buffeted by a vicious snowstorm, Clive and Steven begin to lose control of their vehicles and fall into a ravine. Clive awakens, having badly injured his foot and head. Recovering slightly, he looks for and apparently finds Steven. The two aid each other - Steven bandages Clive's foot and offers him soup, but some elements seem off, such as Steven's clipped sentences and claiming that the soup is 'leftovers' - a meaty soup, which they did not have for dinner last night.
After fantasising briefly while Steven carries him up a ledge, Clive notices a cave and the two hurry for it. However, when Clive gains signal and radioes back to base, he is informed that Steven arrived back at base already, and therefore his partner is not Steven. Terrified, he fights the impostor, and the two scuffle on the ground until Clive gains the upper hand.
Clive interrogates Not-Steven on who he is, but Not-Steven is revealed to be Sven, of the Lejon Ros. Sven thought Clive was Clint, his American partner. The two laugh at the hilarious coincidence and misunderstanding. As they talk about how glad they are, a third figure joins in, before extinguishing their lantern and chasing them into the cavern, kicking off the events of Snowmobiles 2: The Snowmobilening.
Characters[]
- Clive Torch - The primary focus of the story. A gay half-Indian man described as tall and wide with soft, forgiving features. He has a bright smile and a broad nose.
- Steven Smitt - Clive's partner, the visual opposite. Visually sharper, with some awkwardness making facial expressions.
- Sven Bergfalk - The Lejon Ros's counterpart to Steven. Never really visually described, but very helpful to Clive, even if he thought he was Clint at the time.
- Clint - Sven's American partner. Never met.
- James Oxbow - The Ruby Lou's leader. Became an alcoholic after losing his son to a machine accident. Affectionately referred to as 'Jamie the Jackass' because of his 'affinity for nicknames, early mornings and turning off the hot water during showers'.
- Unnamed Third Person - Speaks up as Clive and Sven begin to relax after their brief impostor-fearing scuffle. Chases them into the cave. Revealed as one of the 'sealskins', or Membra cult members, in Snowmobilening.
Trivia[]
- This story begins the infamous 'snow orgy' running joke, which is continued in Snowmobilening.
- This story also marks the first usage of the 'double plot twist' in a The Yellow Butterflies story, seen again in Untravelling.