Before that day, I used to love playing in the snow...

I remember when I first signed up. I didn’t think much of it. I thought it would be a fun, competitive thing to do. I was quite the daredevil already. I’ve skydived. I’ve climbed mountains. Basically, if there’s a chance I will walk away with an injury, I will most likely do it.

This made me see this race across the snowy landscape as nothing. I thought all I’d have to do is stand on a sled as the dog team pulled and take breaks at checkpoints. The first half was like that, and I was certain the rest would be the same. The snowstorm came out of nowhere. I didn’t expect it to turn so thick so fast. Eventually, the snow blinded me, and the wind was deafening. I couldn’t see the path, and I felt a sharp turn and a large bump that knocked me off the sled. I tried to grab on as I fell, and I grabbed something soft and tried to pull, only for it to detach and send me tumbling into the snow. I was holding a backpack.

I got to my feet and looked around desperately trying to find my sled. I, somehow, heard barks through the wind and followed them. I saw through the thick falling snow, a sled. I approached it to see that it was there, broken, the team of dogs nowhere to be seen. I sat right down in the snow, trying to comprehend the situation; I was in the middle of God knows where. I had only a knife and a small first aid kit, and the snowstorm showed no sign of lightening up, let alone stopping. I only had two options: sit in the snow and wait to freeze to death or start walking with a possible chance of making it to the next checkpoint.

I stood up and began trudging through the deep, thick, snow. The cold bit at my face. I was well dressed for the weather, but even in these clothes, the cold was still getting to me. I got more exhausted and not to mention hungry. I walked for what felt like hours. The landscape around me didn’t seem to change; though I was certain I was going straight, it felt like I was going in a circle. My legs felt numb, and I could feel my strength slowly leaving me with each step. The wind still screamed in my ears; I could hear nothing but the roar of the storm. As for sight, not much was there either. I couldn’t see two feet in front of me, and the bombardment of snow and wind in my eyes forced me to squint. I felt as if I was on the brink of falling apart. I finally saw something in my vision. It was, the best I could make of it, a tree, an evergreen tree. I walked passed it not thinking very much of it. After some more walking, the wind seemed to die down, and the waves of snowfall seemed to lighten up to the point where I could feel my sight and hearing return. I studied my surroundings to see that I was in a forest. I dropped to my knees into somewhat relief. I felt my entire body go numb from exhaustion. I fell on my back and stared at the sky and felt exhaustion swallow me. I shut my eyes and passed out.

I awoke after who knows how long. It wasn’t dark so this meant it was still day. I slowly got up, dizziness fresh in my head. I examined my surroundings which were not much different from before I collapsed. Trees and a light snowfall still surrounded me. I began to walk through the forest when I heard a faint growl from a canine behind. I looked to see nothing. I figured I was just hearing things from hunger so I continued. Then I heard it again.

Grrrrr…

I turned around, seeing nothing once again, but the noise sounded closer and more aggressive. Fearing the worst, I tried to speed up my pace, and the growls came again, this time closer, aggressive, and from multiple sources. I reached into the backpack at my side and grabbed the hunting knife. I turned slowly, my fingers feeling numb from cold and fear and looked around, feeling the hair on the back of my neck stand up. Two pairs of feral eyes of wolves locked dead on me. I felt my heart pound in my chest, fear freezing my body. I stared at the two and cautiously backed up ready to dart away. I slowly turned to see another pair of eyes staring at me. Another wolf blocked my escape route so I looked around desperately. I was circled by three wolves. I gripped my knife and felt adrenaline pump through my veins.

The first wolf jumped at me. I quickly went for a stab and narrowly grazed the wolf’s hide. The wolf knocked me on my back, and before I could get to my feet, I felt a sharp, sudden burning pain in my left leg. I looked to see one of the wolves had dug their teeth into my left shin. The pain was excruciating! I lifted my right leg and began to strike the wolf’s head, desperately trying to make it let go of my leg. After a few strikes it let go, but the pain still remained. I stood up and tried to put the least amount of my weight on my left leg as possible. The second wolf jumped me, and I managed to get the knife into its ribs. The wolf fell quickly, lifeless. I looked to see the two other wolves retreat. I took a moment to catch my breath and the pain increased when my adrenaline left me. I wanted to scream. Not only did it hurt, the wound now exposed to the cold made it worse. I reached for the backpack and pulled out a roll of gauze, and I pulled my shin close and began to hastingly wrap the gauze around my wound. I stood and almost fell again from light-headedness. Looking to see a large puddle of blood in the snow, I lost my breath seeing how much blood had been lost. I wanted to scream, cry, yell for any help, but I knew none was near. The best I could do was power through the pain and dizziness and keep heading for the checkpoint.

Eventually, I got out of the forest, and I felt the winds pick up once again. The snowstorm had returned, and night had set in. The storm was hitting me twice as hard now because of the intense wind, worse vision from the darkness, and increased pain in my leg with each step. My head spun around with dizziness, and my arms and face were now numb. The exhaustion was getting worse. Each step I took got me closer to collapse. When it did, I felt like it was over. My memories of my family, friends, all my experiences flashed through my mind. I thought of how I never got to say goodbye to them. I closed my eyes and felt unconsciousness slowly take me over. I saw bright lights fly over my eyes. I managed to see two silhouettes looking down on me. They were saying things, but I couldn’t hear because of my numbed ears from the cold. They put me on a large sled, and I felt it move. Before passing out, one spoke to me in a muffled tone. “Don’t worry, you’re safe now.”