ZoneZero KyleFowlie

Alex Corvich, 20 years old at the time, discusses his escape into the Alaskan wilderness.

It was cold, but I didn’t care. The rawness of nature was liberating, it was freedom! I remember how it tasted, how it felt that first night completely alone. I stood on a tall hill, looking south towards the ocean but I was still far away from it. I couldn’t see any houses, any power-lines, any businesses, any cars… I couldn’t even have told you exactly where I was, somewhere near the edge of the Ray Mountains, north-west of Fairbanks and far away from my home.

I guess it was my fault, really. I let it get too bad, the pressure, the stress – I just couldn’t deal with it anymore. My parents tried – oh did they try – but I think they knew all the same. They had seen me crack, seen me crumble, under the weight of this strange world that we built. They had prepared me, sure, but it wasn’t a reality I had ever wanted. So I left. I sold all my possessions, packed a bag, wrote my family a long letter and began my journey from Palo Alto California up the coast and into the wilderness of Alaska. I knew they would be distraught but I hoped to convince them that I would be returning soon. I knew I had to do some soul searching, but how long that would take I wasn’t sure.

Of course I was completely unprepared for everything. Well, I did have a large chunk of change, so hitchhiking became pretty easy. I made it most of the way just flagging down cars. The rest I walked. It was pretty brutal, or at least I thought so at the time. Now I’m not sure how bad it would be.

I eventually made it to the base of a large mountain range (the Ray’s) and found a small cliff face covering a mossy bed of foliage. The rock overhang hid me from the cold November rain and the floor looked as comfy as any bed I had ever owned. It was my home for the next four months.

The Anatomy of Story

Wired For Story

The author demands that every story tell the reader three things as soon as possible:

1. Whose story is this?
2. What’s happening here?
3. What is at stake?

The author also gives an awesome example,  “Joel Campbell, eleven years old at the time, began his descent into murder with a bus ride.”