by Greg Hague

“Cowards die many times before their deaths;

The valiant never taste of death but once.”

                                                                        -William Shakespeare from Julius Caesar

Fear is imagination . . . it’s really not real.

In one of my favorite movies, The Edge, billionaire Charles Morse (Anthony Hopkins) and fashion photographer Bob Green (Alec Baldwin) endure a harrowing quest for survival in a brutally harsh, particularly treacherous area of Alaskan wilderness.

While staying at a remote backcountry lodge accessible only by seaplane, they decide to fly upriver in search of a photogenic Indian grizzly hunter. Suddenly, a flock of birds slams head-on into their single engine bush plane, blasting through the windshield, blinding the pilot, and clogging the prop with bird remains.

The badly damaged aircraft careens violently out of control. Shearing off a pontoon, and just missing a mountaintop peak, the doomed plane finally plunges violently into an isolated backwoods lake.

The force of the impact rips the wings off the fuselage. The fragmented hull quickly fills with icy cold water as it swirls into the depths. READ MORE