It was so cold. James began to wake up when he realized he could hardly feel his fingers and toes. He opened his eyes to see snow covered leaves, so many leaves. He sat up and wondered where he could be. The last thing he could recall was falling asleep in his warm plush bed. But he just woke up on the ground of a Forrest. Once he started to realize the urgency of his situation James started to panic. He jumped to his feet to look around more, only to realize that he was incredibly frail and could barley stand up. Before he sat down he noticed in one of the trees there was a used parachute. “ Is this how I got here?” James thought to himself. But he also noticed it was attached to a backpack with a continuous beeping sound coming from it.

James remembered from Boy Scouts that often emergency parachutes have a satellite phone attached to them. “If there is a satellite phone. That's how I'll be rescued from this insufferable cold. But how will I get up to it? I can barely stand up, let alone climb a tree. But I have to try or I could die out here.”. Again James stood to his feet. But this time he managed to walk over to the tree and sit up against it. He thought of countless ways he could get up the tree. “ If I can get warm and find some food I might be able to climb the tree and get it. Or if I can find some rope I might be able to throw it onto the tree and pull myself up. No none of these will work. I'm going to die out here.”. He thought of the last time he saw his family. This made him feel awful. Before going to bed he got into a fight with his parents and wished that he'd never have to see them again. But at that moment James wanted to see his parents more than he had ever wanted something. He wanted the warm hugs his mom would always give to him if he was scared. The Sundays he'd spend with his dad helping him restore that old Mustang.

This was the push James needed. He mustered up all of his strength and began to climb the tree. As he got higher and higher he got weaker and weaker. Until he could almost reach what he knew would save his life, he fell. James fell 25 feet. Before he even hit the ground James fell unconscious.

A few hours passed and James was still sprawled out on the ground. Until the sun started to rise more, and the warming radiant glow hit James in the face. He opened his eyes yet again, only to feel a sharp pain in his left arm. He knew It was broken. But this wouldn't stop him. The warmth from the new day gave James the energy he needed to grab a rock, throw it at the bag and call for help. He reached into it to find the satellite phone he so desperate needed, enough emergency food to last for days, water, and a sleeping bag. He turned on the phone and called for help “ Emergency services what is your emergency?” “ I....I don't know where I am but I am in the middle of a Forrest and I don't know how I got here.” “ We will send a rescue helicopter to your location immediately.”. The relief that fell over James was like nothing he'd ever felt. He didn't fully know what he felt, other than safe.

Soon James heard the helicopter that would rescue him and take him home. Once on board he drifted to sleep. Wondering if this event was a test or a punishment for not appreciating life. But that didn't matter. What did matter was that James had overcome his greatest optical and he had gained a new outlook on life.