Adam left the pavement and stepped onto the snow track. He had planned six hour hiking through New Hampshire’s Mt. Washington State Park. He had packed for every sort of emergency and decided to go alone.
It was 8:00 a.m. he had checked the weather forecast before he had left. There was slight chance of showers and wind speed of 60-70 mph. It was full on winter.
Adam knew the hiking was tough. He had flashlight, extra layer of clothing in his backpack to regulate his body temperature according to changing conditions. He felt excited as he walked into snowy paths. He was wearing fleece and hiking pants. The air was mild with the shinning sun.
After an hour, he wore a quarter-zip fleece and gloves and sunshine shimmered. Above his, there were clouds overloaded with precipitation, wind had started blowing with snowfall.
The weather became colder than before. He added more layers including shell jacket, goggles, mountaineering gloves to protect himself from the cold winds.And then he moved ahead and noticed some single set of footprints in the snow. He took out the flashlight from his backpack and switched on. He followed those footprints thinking many people visit here.
Strong winds were blowing attacking Adam’s back and left side. He now put on anorak jacket and covered his head with hood and proceeded. The only thing that was keeping Adam going were the footprints. The wind and sleet were heavy and there was no shelter anywhere. He felt alarmed due to low visibility and was heading towards the footprints. The temperature was getting lower. Darkness was merely few hours away. “Where do these footsteps go?” he asked to himself.
And he called out, “Hello! Can you hear me?” He called three times and blew whistle. But, there was no reply at all. He continued to move cautiously in those tracks with the flashlight. He followed those steps for 30 yards and he reached to the other side. He was astonished and saw a man lying on a boulder. with his body shivering. He was wearing a light jacket with frost covered and not very warm clothes.
“Excuse me?” Adam asked him. The man did not reply. He approached him and uttered, “Oh! Hello.”
He did not react.
“What are you doing here?”Adam asked.
Then, his eyes noticed Adam slowly,
” I want to die.” the man cried out and sobbed.
“Can you tell me, why? ” Adam asked after a minute of his sobbing.
He did not reply,still sobbing.
“It is never too late for a new beginning in your life.” Adam said.
The man wiped his tears away and had a sigh of relief. Adam gave him a chocolate and large cake to eat. After eating, the man was relieved. Adam gave him an extra jacket which he had in his back pack,persuaded him,”Let’s return.”
The man agreed. Adam had retraced the steps and the man kept moving. It was getting slight dark.
They were on their way back.
“Why did not you carry an extra clothes and food for yourself?” Adam asked.
“I just borrowed it.” the man said to Adam.
“Ok! ” Adam said.
It was getting darker and darker, Adam and the man reached the pavement from where Adam began his hike.
Now, it was time to return to their homes.
“With all that has been going wrong in my life, I did not matter to my life.” the man said.
“You saved my life.” the man added.
“My name is Peter. I have a temporary housing. Now, I will find a suitable job for myself.” the man said.
May be I was not meant to die yet. Life still matters to me.” Peter said and sincerely thanked Adam.
“Good luck for your future.” Adam said to Peter and refused to take his jacket from him. He let Peter to keep his jacket with him forever.
From here, Adam and Peter got separated from each other and returned to their own homes.
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