The Hunt (Plot Point)

== Disambiguation ==
The hunt is simply the term used to represent the Monners' tradition of hunting each fall, and the connected tradition of hunting and preparing a deer for Thanksgiving and Christmas. It is set as a plot point, because it is yet to be determined which book(s) it will be included in.
== Background ==
Each year, Stacey, her brother Cole, and their dad Dan go hunting around the upper peninsula area of Michigan to catch a game animal for the winter holidays. This is a tradition that Dan's grandfather started and has continued, with Dan requiring his two kids to join. Stacey likes it, but Cole, now out of the house, simply joins sometimes to make his dad happy.
The hunt serves as a way to show the dynamic of the Monners family, and includes Eliza Monners, the mom, at home when she prepares the food in meals. Currently in Heart, there is a scene (possibly to be removed or edited) in which the three hunt, and Dan falls down a hill and breaks his leg. Cole must go back to shelter amidst threat of a blizzard to find help, while Stacey stays with Dan; eventually Stacey grows a plant up from the ground to burn for kindling, which would presumably be necessary with all the wood is wet with snow. In this was, they survive while help comes, yet no one knows how exactly.
At home, the meat is prepared and the holiday continues.
The hunt may also be introduced in Heart's Hand, which is the much less developed sequel to Heart. In this case, the reader would see the Monners' family dynamic for the first time only after the tumultuous plot of the first book, and this would be a pleasant respite that gave depth to Stacey's family life. This may serve better, since, currently, Heart is filled with many characters including friends and classmates, and the sequel may give a better place to introduce family dynamics, especially since Stacey will be dealing with the dilemma of whether or not to tell her parents about her powers.
It's also possible this concept could be shown in multiple times, perhaps as a motif or theme vehicle as suggested below.
== The General Motif of Snow Related Scenes in The Face of God ==
A very general theme that is still being worked on has to do with snow, the barren cold, and mystery. This idea is connected to the Silent in general, as they are very mysterious, and also to the Tale of the Frozen Vagrant. Such snow scenes, including the hunt--which as stated above has a scary scene in which Dan and Stacey could die--pull on the emotion of existential crisis, and "looking into the void," or basically the fear or nothingness, eternity, eternal loneliness, or the dark unknown. Such fear is connected to the Silent, that is, until the Silent are revealed to be the other half of the 16. It evokes a lovecraftian horror that will be apart of the Face of God story.
=== Christmas Scenes ===
Another possible idea that may or may not be implemented is to have a Christmas scene in every book. In this scenes, more often than not, the snow scene motif would be played out. This is already currently planned for Heart, in which Claudia and Stacey talk about Wendigoes.