The water cascading down from the chrome shower head in harsh streams was hot, painful in a strange but pleasant way, and made her skin feel nearly numb. She enjoyed the sensation.

After several more minutes of this, she twisted the hot water handle to OFF. The searing water quickly turned became frigid, and even though she was expecting it, still hit her like a slap in the face from Jack Frost. She gritted her teeth against the unpleasantness, enduring it for thirty seconds that felt like thirty minutes, and at last shut off the water.

Such was her regular showering routine, and had been for years, since the time her training had begun up on the mountain, in that cabin with no electricity. She’d despised it at first, but after several weeks of shivering under the freezing-cold water, she’d become used to it.

Now, she still just barely tolerated it, but could appreciate the immediate call to alertness it provided.