At first glance this is a story of two aviators stranded in the arctic wilderness due to engine malfunction of their deHavilland Beaver. It is also that of two men gone off course in life, and the only way for them to get back on track is through the love and affection of a women, - the right woman. For Jack, the main protagonist, this is Zola. She first enters his life as his "dream woman" that came right out of a book when he thought his world had come to an end, his college sweetheart had gone away, he had to move to another country and there was no helping hand in sight near or far. So in the real world he had to go through a succession of sad disappointments. He is a man in search of his way - in search of home - not really knowing where and what that is. Harry is the younger one of the two. He is the first to open up and talk as they sit it out in a miraculously found deserted fur trapper's log cabin, and Jack, reluctantly at first, follows suit.On the human interest side these are the themes: People separated from that which one calls home, be it through personal decisions, events that change maps or simply fate, trying to get back to it, or even having to find it.The mysterious magic of the mind, where one event can leave such a lasting imprint that only a superior force can overcome its compelling consequences.In the end the two protagonists agree: There is only one force that can overcome all adversity and reconcile the individual with the effects of the at times heavy hand of fate.That force is love
