I looked at the view in front of myself, my feet were splashing in the lake for a

moment. The trail seemed so distant and lengthy in front of me, while the blue sky was filled with

scattered, puffy, cotton-like, white clouds. The long grasses tickled at my legs, which were covered

with nothing more than shorts. My boyfriend and I were on a hike to Salt Lake, in Utah, an attractive

name for a beautiful body of water. Salt lake was icy and cold due to a glacier that spread outward

onto the land surface some unknown time ago. However, after a two-day hike up a mountain ridge,

the weather seemed refreshing and enjoyable. The lake itself was surrounded by magnificently

smooth boulders which, I was told, became extremely soft to touch. The water was undeniably

clear and inviting, covered by small pebbles at the bottom and little ripples on the surface.

On one side of Salt Lake was a discreet beach away from the trail, but the lake itself was very

discreet, I had only seen two people walking at the most.

Marc, my boyfriend, and I were now laying on the beach and day dreaming while

the cotton clouds moved from left to right. The night was young, but Marc and I had been hiking

all day. Our feet ached along with many other body parts. We built a fire and were up past the

lake because we decided to explore a little bit further up, considering we both had some extra

days off of school and work. The winter had been a cold one and there seemed to be very little

snow melting। I felt a chill go through my body, and I felt each hair stand straight up out of

every follicle in my body. Leaning back, I took notice to the moon and how crisp and serene the

mountain sky was. I always loved looking at the stars when I went camping, there are so many

more to see to the naked eye। The Milky Way was so easy to see, it looked as though someone

had accidentally spilt glitter on a black piece of paper। Just a long cluster of silver glitter strewn

across the sky। It’s still hard for me to believe, that there are more stars in the sky than pieces

of sand on earth। I grew up in Brooklyn, New York, therefore one can never see many stars at

all there, especially when all the street lights blind you with artificial light.

Several hours ago Marc and myself have had a little fight, and from a long and exhausting

hike I was pretty drained. “ I think I’m pretty tired.” I told him.” Well, if you’re tired, than see if

you can get some sleep.” He said, with a tone of frustration. I knew he was frustrated, he usually

gets like that when there’s unresolved issues between us. This hike was our romantic get-away

and we were desperately trying to not fight, but sometimes that’s inevitable. We both work long

weeks and never really find time for each other.” I want to go to sleep, do you?” I didn’t feel

like playing games. “ No, I’m gonna just stay all by myself, oh and the crickets. Don’t worry

about me.” He said with a sarcastic tone of voice. I couldn’t stand the thought of going to sleep

with the conversation ending like that. I’m never able to go to sleep when something ends

on a negative tone or if someone is unhappy. “Okay”, he said, “but don’t think you’re getting

away that easy, we will continue our conversation tomorrow, even if we have to stay all

night.” Okay”, I said while searching for the zipper to the tent. I unzipped the “door” and

we climbed inside.

Our sleeping bags were already rolled out, ready to be warmed up. Marc

fell asleep rather quickly, while I found myself laying there open-eyed, with my mind

wondering in circles. All of a sudden I had this deep gut feeling in my stomach. I listened and

noticed a deep rumbling sound coming from up above. I shook Marc anxiously and hoped that

he would wake without much force. My heart pounded with the tremendous unfamiliar sound

increasing. Marc moaned,” What, what’s the matter?” “ Marc, Marc listen, what’s that sound?”

My voice trembled and my mind started to race. I jumped up and ran outside of the tent, and

what I saw scared me to death. A tremendous cloud of snow was moving at a tremendous speed

towards us. I grabbed Marc’s hand and we started to run to anywhere we imagined to be safe.

I have never before felt my legs run so fast, they seemed to move too fast for my body to move.

We just ran and ran for what appeared to be forever. Eventually, we realized that there was no

sound anymore and we came to a slow stop. While grasping at our chests due to lack of air,

we regained our breath and started to evaluate the situation and talk about what our next

move would be. “ Marc…we were…almost eaten…alive by an avalanche.” Gasping for air

in between every couple of words. “ Lets go back to where our stuff was and look if there’s

anything left”. We waited a little while and ventured back very cautiously. Our tracks were

completely covered by the snow. We hiked further down trying to find the trail, with nothing

more than clothes on our backs. We continued our descending climb down the mountain and

past the lake until we reached the base at around mid-morning. Luckily the car keys were in

Marc’s pants pocket, therefore we had no problem getting out of there. We decided to just

leave our stuff and not risk the danger of digging it all up.

Making our way home, we spoke of how happy we are to have one another, and how

a near death experience makes people appreciate what’s important in their lives. Close to death

encounters make you realize how precious life really is and that people close to you should never,

ever be taken for granted. As we drove into the driveway of my parents’ house, he leaned over,

kissed my forehead, and said, ”I love you.”