*Zach and I met in Ashland, OR. I had just moved there and gotten a job working the register at a small grocery store. One day when I was walking to the back room for my lunch break, I saw Zach for the first time. He was working as a butcher and as we passed each other in the hall he smiled and said "hi". I smiled too and between giggles, I managed to say "hi" back. After lunch, I went back to the register to finish my shift.When my day was almost over, I looked up from helping my last costumer and there was Zach in my line. I asked him what his plans were for the night.He said that he was going "wheeling" and asked me if I would like to come along. I didn't have plans and he was super cute so even though I had no idea what "wheeling" was, I agreed. Before I knew it, we were in his pickup truck and winding up the steep mountain roads behind the town of Ashland. Being from Wisconsin, I had never seen anything like the views from those mountains.The beauty of the Oregon wilderness blew me away. So when he asked if i would like to go Wheeling again tomorrow, I immediately said yes. After two more wonderful "wheeling" dates Zach told me he knew of a beautiful spot where you can see the sunset over the valley. It had rained the night before so the dirt roads were muddy but that didn't stop us from jumping in his truck and heading up the mountain once again. We were about halfway to our romantic destination,when we encountered a fallen tree blocking most of the road. This would not have been such a problem,except for the fact that it was a mountain road with a steep rock face on one side and a cliff edge on the other. The tree was defiantly too heavy to lift so Zach decided to go around it.As we started to pull around the tree,our tires started spinning in the mud and I could feel the truck tipping dangerously toward the drop off. The farther Zach tried to go,the more our tires spun and the more the truck tipped. I remember Zach looking down at me(my side was the cliff side)and telling me to get out of the truck. I went to open my door and then realized that if I tried to get out that way,My feet would hit nothing but air;I was hanging off the side of a cliff! I had to climb up and over Zach and use his door to get out. I watched as Zach tried to maneuver the truck back on solid ground but every time he hit the gas,the tires just spun in the mud and the truck tipped further over the cliff.Almost vertical now,the truck came to rest on a small tree whose trunk was no bigger then my wrist. Zach got out of the truck and looked at me"I'm sorry but i cant get us out of here"He said"I have a friend with a winch who can pull us out,let me give him a call". While Zach was on the phone,I noticed that the sun was sinking fast and the temperature too. I didn't know when our rescuers would arrive,so i began collecting logs and kindling to start a fire. When Zach got off the phone he informed me that his friends would be here in about an hour to help us. He looked down at the sticks in my arms and asked"are you building a fire?""yeah" I said "why?""well,"he said "I've never met a girl like you before". That was the first night of the rest of our lives.* |