We had hiked out our Outward Bound course and it seemed as though I had done all the difficult tasks of the trip. In the hours to follow I was to grow more than at any other point in the trip.

We reached the base just before dinner on the last night of the trip. We gathered all our food and supplies together for what we thought was going to be a collection of gear. Our two instructors at that point decided to tell us we were going to spend the night outside, by ourselves. Our only supplies were what each of us were wearing, our sleeping bags, and our sleeping pads. As a group we were allowed to bring five things. We brought these: a rope, a tarp, a jar of peanut butter, a jar of jelly, and tortillas.

The seven people in the group had some contact with each other before the trip, and three or four of us were close friends. We lived together for the week and knew each other like brothers and sisters. We set up sleeping arrangements and put up camp. Our camp consisted of the tarp and two logs we had rolled over beside it to sit on. The two girls on the trip made what has been know since as the killer tortilla sandwiches. We soon found out we didn't bring necessity number one, toilet paper. We still hadn't used all the tortillas.

The night froze us to the ground and to each other. The moon crested over the tree tops shortly after we settled into our sleeping bags The stars pierced the sky in a multitude of colors usually only seen in a perfect rainbow. Almost upon the rise of the moon we began to sing the songs that had kept spirits high throughout the dreary downcast week. Our group also gained a new talent that night. We gained the art of howling at the moon and stars. The stark cold of the night forced us to crowd together for body heat. The tarp above our group froze solid but beneath it were huddled warm and caring people.

We arose the next morning to a frozen falling tarp. We also found that our socks were frozen, stiffer than boards, to the ground. Our instructors forced us out of the warmth of the bags. Without talking or breakfast each of us were taken to a different part of the woods. We were told to think of what we had learned from the whole trip. It was a drastic change from the rest of the week when we had all been forced to talk out everything together. Each of us were now alone and no one knew were the others were. I felt alone and even though the sun was rising for the first time this week depressed. I realized that was what it was going to be like when all of us went off to college. We were being split up right after we had spent some of the best years of our life. I began to write about the night and the things we had done so I wouldn't forget what the group had meant to me.

Thanks to for the FREE space.