Cheryl Strayed is the author of the forthcoming memoir, Wild (Knopf, March 2012) and the novel, Torch (Houghton Mifflin, 2006). Her stories and essays have appeared in numerous magazines and journals. She lives in Portland, Oregon. You can follow her on Twitter here.
When I awoke, I did not recognize the window. The snow had stopped and moonlight slanted through the glass. I could not make out the words, but I heard my…