What Lessons Can Be Learned From Snowbound: The Jim And Jennifer Stolpa Story?

The Williamson family sets out on a road trip to reach their family for the holidays. Along the ride they run into bad weather, multiple accidents and unnerving strangers. When a near accident forces them off the road, they meet a man who befriends the father. He tells him of this motel not too far up the street, in case they need a place to wait out the approaching snow storm. When the family is forced to find a place to stay, that motel seems to be their only option. Everything seems normal at first, but the longer the stay the more sinister things become until the family is forced to fight for their lives.. will they make it through the holidays? Will the survive this snow storm?

On the snowy mountain, Shawn Foster's neighbor, Susan Taylor, suffered from altitude sickness. He blamed me for not bringing supplies in time. He tied me up and left me on the mountain, five thousand meters above sea level. "You should experience the pain Susan went through." I rushed up the mountain to find them, completely forgetting that I was already exhausted. Without an oxygen supply, I gasped for air desperately. He held Susan in his arms and headed down the mountain. I begged him for mercy, but he did not even glance at me. I struggled, but I could not break free from the Prusik knot he tied himself. The same knot I once taught him. Three days later, he asked his colleagues about my whereabouts. "I would never have forgiven her so quickly if it's not Susan's kindness." But he did not know—I had long been buried beneath the snow.

For the Christmas holiday, my family sets off to the Christmas holiday camp up north. Along the way, my younger brother, Jamie Hale, says he needs to use the restroom. Mom tells my older sister, Ava Hale, and me to go as well. "It'll be a while before we reach the next rest stop, so you two should go with Jamie. I don't want anyone fussing to go to the restroom again on the way. And be quick! Don't waste time dawdling." I run to the restroom at once. But when I come back out, I see the familiar SUV slowly driving away. I'm left standing outside, in -4 degrees Fahrenheit weather, while a snowstorm sweeps through the rest stop. Mom and Dad have forgotten all about me, their Omega daughter. I've been left behind at the rest stop, with no one else around. I run as fast as I can, shouting, "Mom! Dad!" But the SUV turns the corner and disappears into the traffic along the interstate.

On Christmas Eve, Adrian Moretti left my father and me on an icy lakeside road because Lucia Vale called and said she was sick. The defibrillator that could have saved my father was in his armored SUV, driven away by the man my father had trusted for seven years. I called Adrian until my fingers went numb. When he finally answered, Lucia was crying on the other end, and his voice held only impatience. “Elena, stop making this dramatic. Wait for the escort car. Lucia needs me right now.” By the time the Moretti men arrived, my father was already gone. An hour later, Lucia posted a photo from the Moretti estate. She stood beneath the Christmas tree in Adrian’s coat, pale and fragile, with his hand resting on her shoulder. The caption read: Christmas feels like home when he is here. I looked at that photo for a long time. Then I liked it and left a comment. Merry Christmas. I wish you both a lifetime together.

The day a blizzard sealed the mountain roads, the entire pack lost power. My academy and my sister's were on opposite sides of the pack's territory. My father, Alpha Gerald Vale, set out with his warriors. My mother, Moira Vale, called me. "We're going to get your sister first. She hasn't awakened her wolf yet, so she won't survive this storm. Stay at the academy gate and wait for us." I stood outside in the freezing wind, waiting until nightfall. The school sirens eventually began to wail. Snow rose past my knees, and then an avalanche thundered down the mountain. Only then did my mother finally call. "The avalanche blocked the roads. Find your own way home." I clutched my coat tight and trudged through the blizzard for five hours. The avalanche buried me beneath the snow. My fingers were numb with cold, and I felt like the blood in my veins had turned to ice. When I finally crawled home, the manor lights glowed, warm and peaceful. My mother slid the last bowl of meat stew toward my younger sister, Susie Vale. My brother, Damon Vale, took one look at me, covered in snow, and snapped, "Why didn't you shake it off before coming in? You've ruined Susie's favorite rug." I stood in the doorway, saying nothing. Susie smiled and grumbled playfully, "I thought you'd found something good to eat out there and forgotten all about coming home." Outside, the blizzard had brought down whole slopes. Several rogues had frozen to death in it. And somehow, that was still what they believed. Not one of them seemed surprised that I'd made it back alive. Suddenly, none of it seemed to matter anymore. I finally realized it wasn't the blizzard keeping me from home. It was them.

On our sixth anniversary, I waited ten hours for my boyfriend in the middle of a Colorado blizzard. I waited until the coffee stand closed, the last shuttle was canceled, and my toes went numb. I called Mason thirty-one times. He never picked up. At 9:53 p.m., the video call finally connected. But the person on the screen wasn't Mason. It was my best friend, Tessa. She was sitting in his passenger seat, smiling. "I came up a couple of days early. Figured I'd borrow your tour guide." I asked Mason why he hadn't come. He said impatiently, "It's Tessa's first time here. I can't just leave her alone." It wasn't that he couldn't come. He had simply chosen to leave me behind. Ten minutes later, I called about the London project I'd turned down two weeks earlier. "Is the offer still open? I'm in." The snow still hadn't stopped, but I'd already decided to leave.