I grabbed my poles, tightened my gloves, adjusted my wool hat, and
then pushed myself up the hill, to the nearest ski lift. My older brother, Tyler, had already gone ahead of me, so I was even more rushed. I entered the line and made sure that I had my ID card dangling over my neck. After the staff scanned my card, I sat on the ski lift and got ready for a 20 minute long trip up the mountain. I could see my brother almost ten ski lifts ahead, and I tried calling him. I could tell that the man I was sharing the ski lift with was getting a little annoyed with my loudness, so after a while I sat still and kept my mouth shut. I shivered. The snow was falling as hard as ever. I decided that after skiing down Olympic Trail, I would go back to the lodge and drink
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some hot cocoa. I was starting to zone out and look at the snow piling on the trees when the lift suddenly halted to a stop. There wasn’t anyone in front or back of us. It was supposed to be our turn to land. Thinking that the machine froze down for a second, I sat there and picked on the ice that was stuck on the back of my skis. A minute passed, then two minutes passed, and soon, 10 minutes had passed and the ski lift hadn’t even moved an inch. It was starting to get very uncomfortable, dangling on a rope thousands of feet above the ground, with a person that I didn’t know. Suddenly, the stranger sitting next to me took off his earplugs, threw them off the char lift, and started to move towards my seat. I could tell something was wrong. The lift was starting to swing on the rope. I sat still, not even trying to think about anything, hoping that the man would get back to his own business. But I was out of luck. He put his ungloved hands over my mouth, and I started to scream for help. He put his scarf over his mouth and said in a gruff voice, “Another peep out of you, and you’re dead.” “Whav ah boo chooing do may?” I tried to ask as the man tried to cover my mouth with a handkerchief. “What part of the word ‘peep’ did you not understand!?” he shouted. I was scared. I didn’t know what to do. This is the end of my life, I thought. “I love you, mom! I love you, dad! I love you Ty…” I caught myself before I thought that. Since when did I love my brother? But now, nothing mattered to me other than my life. The man started to lift the restraining bar above me. I pushed it down. I saw a glare of anger in the man’s eyes.
For some reason, this man was trying to throw me out of the chair lift and leave me plummet to my death. I had to find out why.
Clenching my fists, I asked, “What did I do to you?”
The man looked even angrier.
“Where is my brother? Tell me, or…” he demanded, and tugged on my oversized parka. He then looked down at the ground, nearly a hundred feet below.
I was now as confused as scared.
I looked into the man’s eyes. He didn’t look familiar; I had never encountered anyone looking like this before. It seemed that the man had enough, and was going to throw me out any second, when the ski lift started moving again. We were now a few feet away from the station. I slid on to the snow and skied away from the man as fast as I could. I looked behind me. The man was snowboarding towards me, but I was much faster. I dodged, slid, turned, and skied past people, traveling at my highest speed, when I crashed into one of the caution signs standing on the snow. I tumbled down the mountain. One of my skis had gotten caught, so I climbed up with my snow boots on, hastily put them on, and started skiing down the “expert only” trail, thinking that this would probably throw the man
off. I moved in a serpentine motion and slowed down a little. The mountain was steep. Actually, too steep. So I sat down, and slid down the hill. Now, I knew that this was a life and death experience, but I actually enjoyed the slide. For a second, I forgot that a crazy man was trying to kill me and was back to being a normal kid. But when I saw somebody that strangely looked a lot like the man snowboarding across the mountain, I turned my mind back to reality and hurried my way towards the safe ground. The thought of the man’s cold eyes staring at mine was extremely harrowing. Once I eventually reached the ground again, I immediately took off my skis and looked up. The man wasn’t there. Either he was very obtuse, or he just wasn’t fast enough. I grabbed my skis and poles, and headed to the lodge where I promised to meet my family when I got back. I didn’t need to walk all the way to the lodge, though. When I started to enter men’s bathroom to warm up my hands for a second, my mom burst open the door and fell onto me. I grasped Mom’s arms and started to ask her, “Mom, why are you in the men’s…” “Lucas Matthew Jones!” she screamed. “I shouldn’t have trusted you! What did you think, lying to us and running off like that! You scared your dad and me half to death!” “Wait, Mom! That’s not true!” I shouted back. “A mental guy tried to kill me.” I started. I told her the story, from the part about the lift stopping to me taking the expert course. I looked up, expecting my mom’s facial expression to change from furious to sympathetic. However, there was a dearth of concern in her face. In fact, Mom’s face furrowed up in clear anger. “How dare you lie to me! You know I hate excuses more than anything else in the world. And who taught you to use words like that? This is totally unacceptable!” Then, to my surprise, she started laughing. “Kids, you guys have the greatest imaginations. How do you come up with this kind of stuff? It makes me wish I was a kid again! You guys crack me up,” she said. “So you’re not mad?” I asked. “Mad? Heavens, no. Just don’t disappear like that, okay?” she said between gasps of air. I took that as a fact that I should keep what happened to me to myself. As I skipped over to the lodge with my mom keeping a close eye on me, I looked over to make sure that the man wasn’t following me again. “Good,” I thought. I opened the creaking door of the nearby lodge. I found Dad and Tyler sipping some hot cocoa in the front of the fireplace. I quietly slipped into the sofa, and whispered to Tyler, “Ooo, Ty-Ty, are you thinking about your little crushie Em-Em?” Tyler’s face turned into the brightest shade of red and starting running towards me. I laughed in his face, and then found my face in the butt of a man who I strangely recognized. The moment I saw the man’s face, I started screaming and ran into another butt: Tyler’s. Tyler started laughing and pushed me towards the man again. “No! Tyler! That man is a crazy murderer!” I screamed, pushing away from my brother and reaching for the exit door. People were now starting to stare at me. A mug fell on the floor and shattered into pieces. I took a sneak peek behind me. The man was sipping on his cocoa and was also staring at me. “Hey! Why not kill me right now? Why stare at me?” I shouted at the man. Now almost all the people in the lodge were looking at me if I was the one who was crazy. The man started to approach me. I could literally hear my heart beat as his footsteps echoed in my ears. I took a step backward. He took a step forward. Then he smiled, and put a hand into his pocket. Is he going to pull out a gun? Either this man is really crazy, or he is trying to fool me, I thought, as I took another step backward. “Why aren’t you trying to kill me? You were going to throw me of the lift earlier, claiming that I killed your brother!” I whisper-shouted. The man suddenly froze in his place and ran towards me. I screamed again. “What did he look like? Where is he now?” he demanded. I didn’t answer. He locked his eyes into mine. Now I was panicking. “Um, he is you and you is he but you think he is not you,” a scramble of nonsense came out my mouth. I meant to say that “he” is him, but he doesn’t know that. Then the man collapsed and put his hands on the top of his nose, as if he had a headache. “Hunter…” he muttered. I cocked my head sideways and tried to think. Did he mean “Hunter” as in someone who hunts, or “Hunter” as in the name? “Me science experiment oh no,” “Me coma twin never knew,” He started talking as if he had a seizure. “We had dinner year before,” “You there with your family,” “Last time I saw twin,” “He thinks you killed me,” His words reminded me of an activity we did in Language Arts: it was called “Five Word Stories” or something. Then something clicked on my brain. This man was a scientist who was working on an experiment. One day, there was an accident in the lab. This man fell into a coma. Apparently, this man had a twin. His twin must have been the man on the ski lift! His twin never found out that he had gotten into a coma. Before that year, the two twins had a dinner. I was there with my family. Wait…I was there with my family? Oh, right! I was at Blue Robin with my family, and it was Tyler’s 14th birthday or something! I had seen two identical-looking men who were drinking beer from the bar. It was the last time the two men saw each other. And the other twin from the ski lift thinks that I killed the man sitting next to me. Wait again…why would the man think that I killed his twin? I wasn’t the only kid in the restaurant, and besides, kids don’t kill people! I was just innocently sitting there, waiting for my spaghetti, playing with my new toy gun I got for Christmas. Oh. Suddenly, the door of the lodge burst open, and I found myself face to face with…my mom. “Mom, what are you doing here?” I asked. “Honey, I said that I’ll be coming after you,” she said. Then she looked at the man sitting with a blank face on the floor. “Um, who is this?” “Long story, Mom. Later,” I said quickly The door burst open again. “You!” I turned around to see that this time, it really was the other twin. The man reached into his pocket to pull out a gun. Then the man sitting next to me stood up. The gun dropped to the floor. The two men stared at each other. Then they huddled into a hug, overwhelmed by the joy and shock of what they were seeing. One of the twins, I couldn’t tell which, pulled me in and made me join the hug. Though I was happy that a family was back together, I was forced to endure the stink of a man who didn’t put on deodorant before snowboarding. I turned my head to see Mom, Dad, and Tyler staring at me. Mom’s eyebrows rose, as if trying to force an answer out of me. “Err, about that, Mom…”
The Hero’s Journey is a basic template utilized by writers everywhere. Joseph Campbell, an American scholar, analyzed an abundance of myths and literature and decided that almost all of them followed a template that has around twelve steps. He would call these steps the Hero’s Journey. The steps to the Hero’s Journey are a hero is born into ordinary circumstances, call to adventure/action, refusal of call, a push to go on the journey, aid by mentor, a crossing of the threshold, the hero is tested, defeat of a villain, possible prize, hero goes home. The Hero’s Journey is more or less the same journey every time. It is a circular pattern used in stories or myths.
Joseph Campbell studied ancient greek mythology for many years. Joseph filled each stage of the journey very well. He accepted all the challenges he got and all the help he needed. He really knew how to fulfill all those stages. Like everyone goes through a heroic journey everyone has to have a story to tell. My story is very contrasty from Joseph’s because he really knew what all the stages meant. My hero's journey consists of my threshold crossing which was when I started depending on myself more than I did on others, my helpers/mentors like my parents, teachers,my sister and many more influential people in my life and my rewards were getting awards in school, having a nice family, and many friends.
...I jumped on the boulder and there I stood one jump away from gaining back my popularity. Looking at the cold ice had already given me shiver. I counted to three and jumped, I had broken the ice feet first. Beneath the ice was dark and extremely cold. I wasn’t able to see anything; I was frightened that I wouldn’t find my way back. It was an unusual feeling, like time had stopped and everything was moving slow. I ran out of breath and eventually found my way back. The whole school assumed that I had died from coldness and wouldn’t come back up. After warming up, it was the new kids turn to jump. Everyone waited but he couldn’t jump he choked. I was glad and proud of myself for overcoming my anxiety. The quote by Amit Ray really inspired me and will never be forgotten: “If you want to conquer the anxiety of life, live in the moment, live in the breath.”
I rush toward the mechanical clanking and rattling of the ski lift and collapse into the chair. Exhausted, I use this time to restore my energy. I begin to form the image of the steep route that I plan to attempt on my next run. Its nearly vertical face, large jagged rocks, and rough terrain send shivers down my spine and adrenaline into my veins. I painfully recall my previous attempt, where I did not perform the necessary technique in order to survive the run without a crash. This time,
A few winters ago, some friends invited my family and me to go snow skiing at Paoli Peaks, Indiana. I did not know how to snow ski, and I leaped at the thought of trying this new sport. On the first morning we entered the pro shop to rent all the gear and make decisions about whether or not to take lessons or go it alone. We decided to be adventurous and go it alone—no lessons. Kent and Celeste, the friends who invited us, knew how to ski and snowboard. He assured us that he could show us the basics, and we would be on our way down the slopes. All of us, after a few minutes learning how to wedge our skis started down the family trail. Although the family trail had smaller hills and appeared safe, to me it seemed way
Dad said, “We were lousy.” He chickened out at the top of the downhill. “We had to stand up there, all cold and holding our poles close, and then just throw ourselves down. We got so stiff, and it hurt so bad.”
A blast of adrenaline charges throughout my body as I experience the initial drop. My body's weight shifts mechanically, cutting the snow in a practiced rhythm. The trail curves abruptly and I advance toward a shaded region of the mountain. Suddenly, my legs chatter violently, scraping against the concealed ice patches that pepper the trail. After overcompensating from a nearly disastrous slip, balance fails and my knees buckle helplessly. In a storm of powder snow and ski equipment, body parts collide with nature. My left hand plows forcefully into ice, cracking painfully at the wrist. For an eternity of 30 seconds, my body somersaults downward, moguls of ice toy with my head and further agonize my broken wrist. Ultimately veering into underbrush and pine trees, my cheeks burn, my broken wrist surging with pain. Standing up confused, I attempt climbing the mountain but lose another 20 feet to the force of gravity.
Dr. D is a cardiothoracic surgeon. He was my hero. He may well still be, even though he is a throw-back to the days when I was more concerned about science than symbolism.
In the heart of the bustling city of Arkania, where the clang of steel echoed through the narrow streets and the scent of spices hung heavy in the air, I, Kai, lived a life bound by the rigid rules of tradition and duty. At twenty years old, I was already a skilled martial artist, my every move honed by years of training under the watchful eye of my master, Sensei Hiroshi. But despite my proficiency in combat, I harbored a quiet yearning for something more, a longing that whispered to me in the stillness of the night. Little did I know that my journey toward self-discovery was about to take an unexpected turn.
He arrived at his first destination after about an hour of hiking. After a short while he figured he had looked over his new found haven enough, he was ready. He started down the grade with a small arsenal, consisting of a shovel, about ten granola bars, two bottles of power-ade, his snowshoes, and what was left in his hydration bladder in his pack. After descending about two hundred feet he came into the clearing he was hoping to find, it was as smooth as silk, twenty inches of fresh powder under his board. Up ahead he say a small but formidable drop off on the mountain, he knew if he was going to escape this with his dignity he was going to have to work some magic, to his success. The drop was approximately eighteen feet, but he was ready for it, he landed perfectly, it was like a dream the poof of snow exploding out from his impact, and the gentle flakes hitting his face. As he continued down the slope he did not realize that his gentle landing had severely weakened the physical structure of the mountain’s blanket, and that any moment he could bring the mass down upon himself at impossible speeds.
I stood atop 10,000 feet of rock, dirt, and freshly groomed snow. People around me rushed down the mountain and my heart rate increased, remembering I would also have to make it down somehow. I had been skiing plenty of times, but this time I was strapping both my feet into a snowboard. I stood up and fell right back down, making one thing certain: this was going to be a lot more difficult than I thought. I looked around to see that there was plenty of activity on the mountain, with seasoned skiers and snowboarders alike.
I had heard the weather was calling for dry powdery snow in large quantities. Knowing that I had never experienced a powder day to that point, I was skeptical about the predicted weather. My doubts however were put down as we woke up the next day to see over a foot of new powdery snow fall. As we hit the slopes I noticed instantly that the powdery surface was new to me. You couldn’t cut as sharp and the skis didn’t bite until they hit the packed snow that was a foot below. As you skied you had to concentrate more on your foot placement so that you wouldn’t cross your skis, you also had to lift the back of your skis to make the edge press down further into the powdery surface. Being exhausted on my first run and trying to get used to the new surface, I did not know if I liked the type of snow everyone talked
As I strap on my binding, I realize how simple it is to feel so happy over the smallest thing. With one foot strapped down, I skate over to the chairlift ready to head up the biggest mountain I have ever laid my eyes upon. I doubt myself if I am ready to take on this big monster but all I can hear is my dad talking about how he hopes his knee will not give out. It is our turn to get on the chairlift I cannot believe I am about to go 9,000 feet above sea level. The ride up the mountain was longer than I expect which made me even more nervous.
I have never had such an amazing and beautiful experience. I swiftly shredded through the cotton like snow, moving from right to left as I made my way to the bottom. With the view of the breathtaking mountains at my ever angle, it became very distracting, even to the point of crashing. As we reached the bottom, I was already heading towards the ski lift to give it another go. But from then on, I made sure to wear my goggles. Having the goggles on allowed me to focus on what is in front of me and not around. Throughout the day, whenever I fell down, Matilda was always there to put me on my feet again. I had such a good time that day; I was really wishing to press a rewind button and start
"No. Your going back into the coffin. See that hole?? That is where I'm going to bury you. And if you struggle, you will get killed." He said, getting very angry. I was scared I had to run. He unhooked my straps on this chair, and I ran.