: Worried that my opening is not gripping enough This is the beginning of a novel I'm writing (not the final draft): The hiking trail consisted of pairs of uneven stone steps. On both

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Ditto on the good advice and rewrites already given. Especially with a short story, you want to establish the main character and the story's central problem in that opening sentence. You might hint at the setting as well. Shifting the description of the hiking trail to the second sentence helps achieve all of that.

To keep readers engaged in that second sentence, you may want to consider a different verb than "consisted of." That's just a fancy way of saying "exists as," so it acts like a passive voice being verb. Instead, infer the steps are uneven by describing how the main character must step over them.

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More flair and detail.

The mountain trail consisted of pairs of uneven granite steps. On both sides, majestic spruces and wind-torn pines pointed at the sky, like an army of giants guarding the sanctuary. From between their trunks ominous mists watched quietly. The air bore the scent of winter, soil, dry leaves and moss.

Hiking - sport-like activity - clashes with this mood.

If you can solidify abstractions, do so. Stone -> granite. Coniferous trees -> Spruces and pines. Give them some character.

Trees are the forest, so they aren't guarding the forest. This would be a minor point but you are striking a tone of pathos and pathos works only if it's perfect, flawless. Every tiny slip makes it a parody, so you can't afford a forest guarding a forest.
If you do anthropomorphize, keep doing so.

Use passive voice only when you need to express the passive position - helplessness, laziness.

Remember, if you aim at "gripping" you can't afford any cheapness. Not a word. If you had time to build up a situation, you might use simple language and still grip the reader's heart, but since this is the beginning, you didn't have the time, so you must use perfection instead.

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I always fall back on a very useful piece of info I once received: many publishers, upon reading a first paragraph that is pure description, will simply discard the piece and move on.

I often use prologues to give the reader a taste of the action, hooking them in before I get into the story proper, but as your story is one of self-discovery I don't think approach would sit well.

The simplest solution I can see is to swap the first and second paragraphs:

I could see why An-Mei had chosen Alishan for her spiritual retreat.
Something about the place made you feel protected, at ease. As though
Mother Nature had laid you softly in her arms, and you no longer had
to feel suffering or grief. The effect was soothing, almost magical.

The hiking trail consisted of pairs of uneven stone steps. On both
sides, tall coniferous trees extended tall into the sky, like an
army of giants guarding the forest. From between their trunks an
ominous mist watched quietly. In the air was the scent of winter,
mixed with the smell of soil, dry leaves, moss. If you listened
careful enough, you could hear the chirping of birds and insects—a
tune so soft, so subtle, you sometimes thought you were humming to
yourself.

But was it enough to heal An-Mei's pain?

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