The Night - Original Writing

The day was dark. I could feel a storm approaching. The gentle sunlight glistening through the clouds, now covered by a heavy mist. Drop. Drop. Drop. The coldness of the water tinged my face. And the earth shook, as a large boom erupted from the sky followed by a light crackle. By now, I was soaked, like that night. I continued walking through the deserted streets when a large flash erupted from the sky. Oh, great lightning, today was getting better and better. A woman and her young child was running towards their car to seek shelter. The walk was a long and dreadful one, I found myself looking at the place I left 15 years ago. The house was still dark and foreboding as ever, the shutters hanging off its hinges and the roof in a state of disrepair.

So we set off to the campsite only a 10-15 minute drive from Ben nevis for the weekend. It was a beautiful campsite with extraordinary views and lovely people. I was very anxious, but my dad made sure to reassure me that I could achieve anything and take as many stops as I needed. I didn’t sleep well that night too many thoughts

The large cut on the right side of my forehead had begun to bleed again; my own blood threatening to choke me. “Calm down its ok. You're going through a rough phase that's all. Try to get some rest,” was all the comfort dad could manage before choking up into tears. He turned away as streaks of auburn curls lightly brushed against me, the owner tending to my wound. Rest, he says; not so easy when every time your eyes droop, the dreams begin. They have been getting worse, the closer I become in finding a way to bring her

As I heard my alarm clock go off at two in the morning, feeling prepared mentally but not physically. My mind,at that point in time raced with thoughts and expectations, although my body felt like it wanted to die. Finally dragging myself out from under the soft covers, I pulled my gear to the bed of the truck and threw my bag up over the side of the truck's bed,-- hearing a giant thud from the heftiness of my pack. I felt mixed emotions coming from my body, my mind ready and my body said: “go back to bed hate you, I hate you, I hate you”. As soon as I plopped myself into the truck squished with three people in the back seat, after about five minutes of driving all three of us passed out fast asleep. The moment I woke, pulling into the parking lot of Mount Washington, New Hampshire I felt ready. When I stepped out of the car, I threw my hands in the air, the best feeling of stretching after a car ride. I look up to see this mountain completely covered with snow and only one round part completely treeless; that's where we hiked too. Strapping my fifty-pound pack on my back containing ski boots, skis, poles, winter gear, and food felt more tiring than it should have.

Eventually my resolve broke and I crept out of the room to see what everyone else was up to. All of the food had been unpacked and the dirt bikes and ATV had been taken off of the trailer. Helmets were promptly passed out and my brothers slung their legs over the bikes and were gone. Not about to be left behind, I jumped on my ATV and I was on their trail. The trails were newly cleared in the woods and almost running into the trees served as a

Rion calmed from his night terror easily, and he and Percival went back to sleep. When morning arrived, Rion shot out of bed with a grin, full of his typical energy. He had no memory of his tears and screaming the previous night, which was just as well; the boy deserved peace after all the heartache he had weathered.

Once we had finally hiked our way up to the first resting point, my anxiety had gone away. In my mind, up to that point, the hike had been fairly easy. We all took our time to look around and drink our water and take pictures; my mom got slightly upset when I wanted to take one close to the edge. Once we were all ready to go again, it was time to start the unpaved or the scary part of the hike as I like to call it. Beforehand, I had researched the hike and

I arrived at the spot in the dead of night. There was nothing but sand for miles and miles around me. It was cold, but my excitement for the job warmed me up. After what seemed to be

On March 14, 2014 I, had gone to the Buffalo National River for an overnight solo backpacking excursion. I hiked 7.5 miles, from Steel Creek to Kyle’s Landing, and camped out along the way. What is notable, is that I had never been on a backpacking trip. Nor, had I ever camped out by myself before. It was also the first time that I got the chance to sleep in the Hennessey hammock-tent that was bought years before. The reason this matters, is because previously, I had been unemployed for a year and a half, nearly everything I owned was in the trunk of the car, and I really didn’t have a life that I wanted to go back to. I was also 25lbs greater than I am today, had just quit smoking six months earlier, and was ridiculously out of shape. Nevertheless, I knew deep down in my little soul that if I could survive this trip than I’d have a chance of finding what I was looking for.

I rode through as fast as I possibly could the darkness creating an eerie bubble around the valley, making it seem like it was constantly just after sundown. I rode and rode, then I heard the howls of beasts that scared me so much I nearly fell from my saddle. I looked behind me and saw a mass of what looked like giant wolves with the manes of lions. I kicked Trillium and galloped as fast as I could. I realized that I could not outrun these beasts, but I also realized how much Trilliums hooves were sparking against the ground.

As I walk out of the gas station and down the ramp. I look down in disappointment and anger. Never wanting to return to our dreadful car ride. I knew what was coming and all I wanted to do was curl up in a tiny ball. I didn't want to hear everyone giggling, because going on this hike was a formidable challenge for me. I laboriously dragged myself to the car. We have been driving for what seemed like a lifetime. We are on our way to a campsite and “the hike of the century.” We had been preparing for this trip for weeks. We had an ample amount of supplies for this trip. Four and a half hours later we had arrived. i tried to ignore the negative stories in my head. Of course the fear of slipping off the trial kept popping in my head. I couldn’t get rid of it. Sluggishly, I followed the big group before me.

The last glimpses of the dark blue truck which my mother was driving in disappeared behind the trees, and we realized that we were truly on our own. My dad, older sister, and myself began our journey along the most difficult part of the Foothills Trail. This was our first backpacking trip, and I had a feeling that we were vastly unprepared for the task which was at hand. On the trail side was a sign which read: “Table Rock State Park-14.0 Miles”.

It was starting to get dark now. I had a backpack with some items in it, but I was not prepared for this. I decided that I needed to find some shelter, because I was not going to find my way down tonight. I walked until I found a set of rocks that I could lie underneath to get out of the wind and snow a little bit. I did have some matches, so I found some logs close by and started a fire. The wind and the snow were not going to let up so I tried to stay as warm as possible. I wasn’t sure if I should stay under the rocks, or if I should try and find my way down. I was hoping that this storm would not last too long. As the hours went by the storm was not getting any lighter. I started to worry that I might be stuck here for a long time. And I was also starting to get hungry. Luckily, I had a couple granola bars in my backpack. I did not have any water.

Once I got out of my car, I instantly regretted two things. First of all, I didn’t dress for this weather. It was fifty degrees and I was wearing shorts and a t-shirt about to start my adventure through this enormous trail. Luckily I had a sweater in my car. My uncovered legs just had to deal with it. Second

Shivering in fear, I clung to the rock face with my only support being the rope attached to my harness….. Wait a minute! Oh, sorry this hasn’t happened yet, this part comes later in the story. Alright, now that we’re back on course, so now I can tell you the story of when I went on the trip to Philmont. I awoke on a summer morning to my dad knocking hard on my bedroom door “Wake Up!”, “It’s Time to Go!” he yelled, This caused me to jump out of bed, and quickly get dressed out of fear. At this point it was around four in the morning, so I was still drowsy, as we begun putting our bags into the truck. I had soon realized why we left so early when we started approaching the grocery, it was because we had completely forgotten to pack food, and other essentials.