I was with my family at a ski resort and decided to take some time to myself to look around the property.
I came upon a snowmobile rental office and it appeared as if people were just helping themselves to snowmobiles without having to pay or sign for them.
Seeing how others were taking the snowmobiles, I decided to take one myself.
Never having driven a snowmobile, I was surprised to find how easy it was to maneuver and followed a group of other drivers out into a field of freshly fallen snow.
I eventually arrived back at the starting point and decided to take the snowmobile back to my family's cabin and offer rides to my children.
Noticing the roads didn't have a lot of snow---and not knowing if I could drive the snowmobile on a road without snow---I decided to stay around and take a few more trips around the area where I was.
Turning back, I came to a pedestrian crossing where a few skiers passed in front of my snowmobile. Just as I saw the crossing was clear and was about to ride on, a young girl with long dark hair jetted out in front of me and deliberately slowed down just as she walked in front of my snowmobile, looking at me with a scowl and evil eye.
Once the girl crossed, I decided to return the snowmobile and return to the cabin.
Walking through the lodge I noticed a woman at the snowmobile rental counter and put the key in a basket that was marked "key return."
I asked the woman behind the counter if there was any charge and she looked on her computer and proceeded to print out what appeared to be an invoice.
She showed me the invoice but had her thumb deliberately covering up the price, though she left the number three visible and joked that I owed her three thousand euros.
Getting the joke, we both had a laugh and she revealed the actual price, 320 euros.
Shocked, I told the woman I barely had the snowmobile out for fifteen minutes and she went on to provide an itemized list of all the costs, including insurance and a supplement due to the fact I took a snowmobile without having made a prior reservation.
I opened my wallet which revealed I had the exact amount to pay for the rental but as I handed the woman the cash, she laughed and told me that my stay at the resort included free unlimited snowmobile rentals but she was obliged to print out an invoice after each rental.
Relieved, I laughed and thanked the woman for her explanation.
Then I woke up.
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