Every Step - Alone in Antarctica: The First Woman to Ski Solo Across the Southern Ice - page 22

I knew that as soon as I launched myself away from safety I
would need to be relentlessly focused on simply keeping afloat
- never able to stop, never able to relax. It was an intimidating
thought but now I found that I'd clamped down so hard on
any emotion that I could barely feel anything at all. I could
sense myself gradually shutting down, inwardly tensing until I
was completely focused on the challenges ahead. It was like a
deliberate shedding of everything that was me and replacing it
with an altogether more calculated mental state. I was aware
of myself being smothered by several layers of self-control
and realised glumly that this would be the extent of my inner
landscape for the next three months.
Waiting at the boarding gate for my flight I remembered the
package from my sister. Inside was a small oval locket made of
silver. It opened up to reveal a tiny family photograph opposite
a picture of just the two of us laughing at the camera as we
share a joke. Sandwiched between the photographs was a thin
strip of paper delicately folded to fit the miniscule space.
'Every time you feel alone open this so you know I am with
you,' it said. 'All my love from lil' sis.'
I was in tears before I finished reading the note. With blurred
vision, I refolded the strip of paper and closed the locket. On
the back was engraved:
Every
Step
X
It was beautiful. I ran my fingers over the locket's smooth
curves and held it tight in my palm as I boarded the plane.