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Chapter One

The Arrival

The icy wind whipped the blanket of falling snow around Maya as she struggled forward. For a moment, she considered this must be what it’s like to be in a snow globe, before her mind returned to the grim situation. When she left her car that morning, Maya felt confident she could complete her hike before the heavy snow arrived. The forecast stated the heaviest snow wouldn’t start until overnight. Still, now it was mid-afternoon, and the clouds had moved in quickly, bringing a deluge of snow. At the rate it was increasing, Maya was sure they would have whiteout conditions within the hour. With the storm intensifying and temperatures plummeting, if she didn’t find shelter soon, she would be toast. Maya knew she should have turned back when the snow started, but with this being her first hike since the injury, she felt compelled to see it through. Besides, after so long on the shelf, she had to admit, it felt great to be back in nature. At least it had until the storm blew in. Now she was shivering as the wind cut through her. As she shuffled through the quickly accumulating snow, Maya tripped over a tree root and stumbled forward. She would have fallen if she hadn’t reached her hand out and stabilized herself on the trunk of a pine tree.

“Get your act together, Maya,” she muttered as she moved under the protection of the tree limbs. Temporarily sheltered from the nonstop snow, Maya took a moment to slow her breathing. Her knee was healed, and she was cleared for physical activity, but she wasn’t used to it. As she leaned against the tree, her knee started to throb. Maya sighed and adjusted her knee brace. It had been almost a year since the surgeon had repaired her ACL. Her recovery had been long and grueling, but the most challenging part was not being able to hike. That’s why this was so important. It was her first hike back, her first chance to test her knee, to test herself. Now, she wondered if she had bitten off more than she could chew.

Maya looked out at the billowing snow that was quickly piling up around her. “You’re off to a fantastic start, some professional hiker you are.”

Maya winced. Her life coach had warned her against negative self-talk. While recovering, her physical therapist suggested that she contact a life coach to help with her mindset after the accident. Maya had been skeptical, but figured she had nothing to lose, so she called and made an appointment.

The life coach suggested she explore Stoic Philosophy. At the time, Maya had heard the term a few times but hadn’t looked into it. She decided to follow his advice and studied the Stoics. What she discovered was a philosophy to help her handle adversity, accept uncertainty, and promote sustainable growth in her life through clarity, courage, and creativity. Maya remembered the section on Self Mastery.

“Before you lead others, you must lead yourself,” Maya said to herself. “Well, Maya,  if you don’t lead yourself soon, you’re going to freeze to death.”

Maya reached into her jacket pocket and retrieved a laminated map. The phone signal had been out for a long time, partially because of the storm, and partially because she was in the middle of nowhere, so she had reverted to old-school navigation. As the snow had accumulated, Maya had long given up returning to the car. Instead, she decided her best bet was to find the nearest Ranger’s cabin. According to the map, if she kept following the ridge line, the cabin should be close. After consulting her compass, Maya returned it and the map to her pocket, tightened her knee brace, and trudged on against the wind and blowing snow.

Ten minutes later, the snow had intensified to near whiteout levels. Maya knew it was now or never. In these conditions, if she didn’t find the cabin, or worse, got lost, her odds wouldn’t be good. Maya was starting to doubt she would ever find the cabin. Her mind started to race as she thought about freezing to death on the side of the mountain, but she forced those thoughts out of her mind. Again, she was drawn to the lessons of the Stoics. One of the keys to self-mastery is regulating your emotions.

“Just think about one foot in front of the other, always concentrate on taking the next step,” Maya told herself as she struggled up the ridge. “The situation is bad enough, no need to catastrophize.”

Suddenly, she stopped, pulled her scarf down, exposing her nose, and took a deep sniff of the crisp air. Despite the howling wind, she was sure she caught a whiff of smoke. If there was smoke, she must be near the Ranger’s cabin. Reinvigorated by hope, Maya pushed on. A few minutes later, she saw the outline of the Ranger’s Cabin standing out against the white, snow-covered landscape.  A wave of relief washed over her as she stumbled to the front door. Her survival instincts took over, and she walked straight to the door, grabbing the handle without knocking. To her surprise, it was unlocked. Maya opened the door and stepped inside, only to be greeted by the cold steel barrel of a rifle pointed at her.

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