The Song In His Heart

At the fork, Lonnie kept to the left as he remembered.  The small waterfall soon followed and at that point he checked his compass before heading off in a northerly direction once again.  The deep snow and blowing wind made his progress much slower than he had hoped for.  Visibility became increasingly limited.  Once he got away from the stream and started to cut over the ridges the terrain became very broken and difficult.  Many times he slipped and fell while trying to side step his way down the steeper embankments.  Each time he would pick himself back up and continue his torturous journey to get help for his father.  It was very frustrating for the young boy, and the cold biting wind only helped to wear down his stamina and mental fortitude.  Lonnie climbed over so many fallen trees as he moved up and down over the ridges that after awhile he started to fear it might be impossible to get horses back in here.  The timber in this section of the forest was very thick.  The canopy that it made overhead, coupled with the continuous downfall of snow and dark cloud cover, made it seem as if it were almost dark.  Checking his watch, he was shocked to realize that it was almost four o’clock in the afternoon.  All of a sudden Lonnie started to feel cold and clammy.  The realization that he might not make it out before darkness set in had never really occurred to him.  Now that it could be a potentiality, it stirred something deep inside of him that he had never felt before.  Lonnie became anxious and picked up his pace considerably.  He did not notice that he was falling down more often, nor did  he realize that he  was  no longer heading due north, but was rather tending to head more downhill, which ultimately would get him off the mountain, but only after an additional three or four miles of  hard rugged  hiking.  In order to come across Porcupine Creek, it was important that he head due north for two miles.  By heading down the mountain too soon, he would be moving northeast, and very possibly could miss Porcupine Creek entirely.

      Fear is an interesting phenomenon.  It can affect any human, male or female.  Even if one is big and strong, it does not protect them from the slow insidious creeping of uncertainty that takes over their mind.  As one is subjected to physical hardship and depredation, the process quickens.  The mind becomes immune to rational thought.  Irrational behavior is a common reaction.  People do things that they don’t mean to do.  They do them without thinking of the consequences.  When the desired outcome is not reached as a result of this irrational behavior, the fear quickens and the whole process continues to build until it reaches the point of climax- this is called panic!

      Lonnie was close to panic as he stumbled and fell down the steep incline.  Inside his head there was a voice telling him that he had to hurry and get off the mountain before dark.  He set this timeline that he could not possibly meet and the closer the darkness came the more afraid he became, and the faster he would try to go.  Finally, as he lay face down in the deep snow near exhaustion, he remembered what Poppy had told him before he left.  “It doesn’t matter how quickly you make it off the mountain, only that you make it safely.  I’ll be ok for as long as it takes you.”

      Lonnie lay there breathing hard for a long while.  Over and over in his mind he heard the words, “Make it out safely.”  Slowly he sat up and opened his pack and took a long slow swallow from his water bottle.  After a moment, realizing that this was the first water he had consumed since he left his father, he took another long drink.  The snow had continued to fall all day.  In fact, it was snowing harder now than at any time since it had begun the previous day.  The wind was blowing, it seemed, from every direction.  Lonnie was cold, very cold.  To make matters worse, he had become dehydrated and wet with sweat.  He knew he had approached the precipice of panic and that now he was at a very s