The Rescue on the Mountain

Ana and Tom had been planning their trip to New Zealand for over a year. They were both experienced hikers, and they wanted to walk a two-day trail through the mountains of the South Island. The night before they left, Tom wrote their route on a piece of paper and gave it to the owner of their hostel. "If we aren't back by Sunday evening, please call the rangers," he said. The owner, a quiet woman called Margaret, put the paper on her fridge and promised she would.

The first day was perfect. The sky was blue, the lakes shone like mirrors, and they reached the mountain hut before dark. On the second morning, however, the weather changed. Thick fog came down from the peaks, and soon they couldn't see more than a few meters in front of them. Somewhere along the ridge, they missed a sign and left the trail without realizing it.

By the afternoon they were completely lost. The path had disappeared, it had started to rain, and Ana had slipped on a wet rock and hurt her ankle. She could walk, but only very slowly. Tom checked his phone. There was no signal. "If I had downloaded the offline map, we would know where we are now," he said angrily. "And if I hadn't wanted to take a shortcut, we wouldn't be on this side of the mountain," Ana answered.

They found a large rock that protected them from the wind, put on all their dry clothes and shared their last sandwich. As it got dark, the temperature dropped quickly. Every half hour, Tom blew the plastic whistle that hung from his backpack, three short blasts, the international signal for help. Nobody answered.

Back in the town, Margaret looked at the clock at eight o'clock on Sunday evening. Then she looked at the paper on her fridge and picked up the phone. The rangers already knew the weather was bad, so they organized a search team immediately. Because they knew exactly which trail Ana and Tom had taken, they knew where to start looking.

At sunrise, a helicopter flew over the ridge. Tom stood up, waved his orange jacket and blew the whistle until his face hurt. Twenty minutes later, two rescuers were wrapping Ana in a warm blanket.

A week later, Ana and Tom went back to the hostel with flowers and a box of chocolates for Margaret. "If you hadn't called the rangers, we wouldn't be here today," Ana told her. Margaret smiled and pointed at the fridge, where a new piece of paper was waiting. "Then you know what to do before your next trip," she said.