The voice was loud and clear enough to be distinct — definitely a man’s voice. And of course, the first thing I did was turn around…
HOLY SHIT!
The mountain behind me had disappeared. Not just part of it… the entire mountain! In its place was nothing but a sheer wall of blank white snow. A churning, shifting wall…
AVALANCHE!
Terror struck me, nearly freezing me in position. Luckily, self-preservation took over. I bent my knees, driving hard, coaxing every ounce of speed and power from the surface of my long, sleek skis. My shoulders were scrunched, waiting for the inevitable. Waiting at any moment to be overtaken with a rush of snow and ice…
Don’t look back!
It was so tempting. I needed to know! And at the same time, I knew it would be the end of me. I knew the last thing I saw would be a blinding crash of white, and it would all be over.
The speed was terrifying. I’d never gone this fast. My brain screamed at my body to slow down. To just aim for the softest-looking bank of snow and take the fall. That no matter how many bones I broke, at least I wouldn’t die.
It would’ve been easy. So simple to just throw myself to the ground and cover up.
Instead I kept going. Kept racing…
The blizzard was blinding now. I’d already lost my red-jacketed companion — I could no longer see to my left or right. I could barely see ten feet in front of me, and at the speed I was going, ten feet would’ve been less than a half second anyway.
I screamed. It was the only thing I could do. I screamed until the rumble of the mountain drowned me out. Screamed until I could feel the cold swirl of air rushing up behind me…
This is it! Your YOLO moment!
I was going to die. In my heart I was sure of it. I could taste it even, and the taste made me angry.
C’mon, just one more run!
The taste was bitter and painful, like coffee-grinds and gravel shredding my mouth. Faith’s sing-songy voice echoed tauntingly through my skull, making me vengeful. Filling me with hatred and sorrow and rage…
Up ahead the white parted… and I could see nothing but a vast stretch of grey sky. It was too late to turn. Far too late to stop. I could only fly into it…
Fly into it as a wall of snow crashed into me violently from behind, sending me head over heels… spinning, churning…
My poles were ripped from hands.
My skis, torn from my feet.
I felt my jacket whip over my head, and then something struck me from in front and behind at the same time.
Every ounce of air was knocked from my lungs. I tried to breathe, but sucking in breath was wholly impossible.
Then even the white was taken away from me, as my entire world went utterly black.
Three
MORGAN
I woke in the cold, to pitch-black darkness.
Am I dead?
I wasn’t sure. I wasn’t standing, that was for sure. But I wasn’t lying down either. In fact, I felt like I was floating…
I could barely breathe. Something was crushing me, pressing in on my lungs from both sides. I reached out to feel for it, but I couldn’t do that either. I no longer had arms.
Panic flooded through me. Eventually I calmed down enough to realize I did have arms, they were just pinned to my sides. I wriggled away at them, pulling hard. One popped free and I felt around.