So in the short story account the teenaged boy broke through the thin ice and was holding onto the surrounding ice, wet, half frozen, fatigued and afraid. He clung to the edges of the remaining ice pack all by himself in this freezing nightmare with no others around to offer him any assistance out of this frigid hole. In this apparent hopeless state he considered many times to release his grip and let go of any chance of rescue. No one came nearby for him to call for attention so he felt all was lost, and alarm gave way to terror. Despite all the odds against him he mustered enough courage to just hold on. At long last, when the whole disaster seemed beyond his best hopes, he talked himself into hanging on sixty seconds longer and just as that
