Lost

Prologue1

The wilderness. So wild and beautiful, yet deadly at the same time. Deadly. A fact most people forget…or just ignore because of disbelief. I’m a believer…now. There was a time where I thought the wild was gentle, but that time has passed. Don’t get me wrong, I still love the wilderness, but I never take it for granted like I used to. I give it the respect its earned, and I remember the deadly game I once played with it… And how I never will play again2

They have asked me to write down the story of what happened to us in great detail, and I will do so for two reasons. 3

1. To remind myself of what I learned and of the dangers I faced, and to renew the promise I make with the wilderness.4

2. To tell the people our story, and to show them how dangerous nature can be. I’m going to try to teach them to respect nature as I do and not to take unnecessary risks or make the same stupid mistakes that I did.5

I learned much from our, for lack of a better word, adventure. It was a time I will never forget as long as I live out my life. I saw the beauty of the wildness in which I had ventured into like I had never seen it before, and yet at the same time I recognized the fact that I was an unprepared intruder and that the beauty that surrounded me was trying to kill me.6

It was a time of self-discovery. We did what we thought we couldn’t do. We matured and learned the power of unity and cooperation. Mistakes were made, and we suffered from them. But we learned to move on and carry with us what we had discovered. There may have been the lose of innocence, but we all grew in a way few ever do. We suffered and stuck together, and that’s what paid off in the end. We survived what no one else had, but we would’ve never been able to do that on our own. When you work together, and strive for one single goal, “impossible” no longer has a meaning.7

Chapter 18

As I start writing this you must know about those who were with me during this time. Bo was my boyfriend of two years, and Aaron was Bo’s best friend, and mine, too. My best friend Britny was with us. I have to hand it to her. She wasn’t much a nature girl, but she hunkered down and took it like the rest of us, after awhile anyway. At first it was tough for her, because, as a city girl, she wasn’t accustomed to what we were going through. I guess we weren’t either, but we at least were “from the country and weren’t afraid to get our hands dirty”.9

Britny was one of those people who would rather take a cab or a subway, where we’d rather go on horseback or hitch-hike. We liked to take our time and see what the world had to offer. We were looking for adventure, and sometimes God gives you a little more than you bargained for. Here’s a tad bit of advice: Be careful what you wish for.10

I can’t forget to mention Jacob. Jake was a character, a character sometimes I wish I had never met. I shouldn’t really say that, though, for I was grateful to him at times. His biggest downfall was his loyalty, for he had none. He didn’t trust us or our loyalty to him. I don’t know what all went through his mind, but certainly not what we thought at the time.11

It all started one cold January morning in Colorado…12

Mia stared at the high, snow-capped mountains through her window in the distance as she stuffed her snowshoes in her bag. Her thick brown hair hung to her shoulder in her normal pony tail. She had an undeniable passion for skiing, and so did most of her friends. They had decided to take a trip to Colorado over the winter break. They were only planning to be gone for two weeks, which some of that time was spent driving from Kentucky.13

“Mia!”14

She turned and looked to the door of her cheap motel room. Brown streaked blonde-haired Bo leaned casually against the doorframe gazing at her with his cerulean blue eyes. His bangs came down almost to his eyebrows, making him look younger than twenty. Mia, having just turned eighteen, was a year and a half younger than him. 15

He smiled when she looked at him. Mia liked it when he smiled, because even his eyes shared in the smile, making his face look absolutely adorable.16

“You soon ready?” he asked her.17

“Yup,” she answered as she picked up her bag, “let’s go.”18

“Got your hat?”19

“Oops, thanks, I would’ve totally forgotten about that.”20

He followed her back into the room towards the wobbly dresser with the large, cracked mirror. Mia gently picked up her black hat with the dark blue band along the bottom. She stared at the shattered mirror, her reflection almost making her laugh. 21

Bo’s strong arms encircled her waist and he put his lips to her ear. “What are you waiting on? Everybody’s ready to go.”22

“I swear this mirror makes me look fat.”23

Bo squeezed her affectionately. “That’s probably why someone broke it.”24

Laughing, she turned to face him. “You’d better smile now Blondie, ‘cause I’m gonna wipe that smile clean off your face when we go skiing down those slopes today.”25

“Oh really?” He smiled again as he looked into her gleeful blue-green eyes.26

“Yup, I’m gonna beat you so bad, you’re gonna wish we never came.”27

He turned back to the door, arm still around her waist, and headed out. “We’ll just have to see about that.”28

She picked up her bag as she walked beside Bo, who stood almost a head taller than her, and followed him out through the door. 29

“You know, it sucks that this park doesn’t have a ski lift,” she said as they walked down hallway to the main lobby. 30

“You don’t like hiking?” he asked curiously.31

“No, it’s not that,” Mia answered as she shifted her bag, “it’s the stupid tour we have to go on to get to the top.”32

Bo paused in step and looked down at her, clearly not understanding what she meant. “I thought you wanted to go on the tour.”33

“I don’t, Britny does,” she said, rolling her eyes.34

He laughed as he started walking again.35

“It’s not funny!”36

“Why didn’t you just tell her ‘no’?”37

Mia sighed. “This whole skiing trip really isn’t her thing. I just wanted to do something that she would enjoy so she wouldn’t be so negative about everything.” She looked up at him. “You know how she can get.”38

“Yeah, I know,” he said peering down two different hallways. “Now which way to the lobby?”39

“Try reading the signs,” Mia suggested.40

“Si- oh, signs…right.”41

Mia leaned her head against Bo’s shoulder. She stared at the tall, skinny tour guide, who was endlessly blabbing on about the wildlife and the delicate balance of the ecosystem. She over exaggerated each word she spoke, as if to pound it into everybody’s mind. 42

Her skis were getting heavy, and all Mia wanted to do was to fly down the mountain, feeling the rush of adrenalin pumping crazily through her veins. 43

Bo jerked his shoulder, and Mia’s shook her head, blinking her eyes. “If you keep falling asleep,” Bo muttered, “our tour guide’s gonna throw us out.”44

She gave him a ‘get serious’ look and whispered back, “Do you think I really care?”45

“Don’t you guys think that this is totally awesome?” Britny asked as the group began walking again.46

“Yeah, it reminds me too much of being in school, mostly History class,” Mia replied.47

“Oh, c’mon,” Britny laughed, “you have no sense of adventure.”48

“I’ll show you ‘sense of adventure’ when we get to the top of this mountain.”49

“Anyway, I thought you were home schooling,” Aaron said.50

Mia turned her head and looked back at Aaron. He had thick brown curls that stuck out from under his hat. Being about Bo’s height, Aaron stood much taller than Mia, making her look upwards to meet his gaze.51

“Yeah, well, I still have to take History.”52

An athletic forty-year-old man in front of them turned around and glared at them. He carried an unusually large bag with him and his skis. Even his coat seemed to bulge out suspiciously. Mia had learned that this man’s name was Jacob, but he preferred being called Jake. 53

Finally, after a wasted hour, they reached the top of the mountain. Mia sighed and looked down the steep, snowy mountainside. Here, at the top, there were no trees, but farther down, tall evergreen trees stood straight, the tips pointing toward the sunlight. Their branches hung low with the snow from a recent storm. You may as well look now, Mia told herself, because that’s all gonna be a blur on the way down. 54