The Mountain
Reaching out, Seth grabbed a hanging vine and pulled himself up to a ledge, where he could rest for a minute and decide what his next move would be. Looking down the mountain, he was amazed at how far he had come. “I really can do this,” he said, noticing that he sounded more confident than he felt. Seth has been on this mountain for the past five hours, and was beginning to wish he hadn’t started on this journey, especially since he didn’t get the early start that he had hoped. It was going to be dark in less than an hour, and he knew that his hopes of reaching the top were slowly fading with the light.
Looking up the mountain, he could see two distinct paths to the top. One looked fairly simple, but it would take him too long and he probably wouldn’t make it before dark. He had to take the hardest route; it was really his only choice. He jumped up, grabbed the small edge overhead, and then, while hanging, slowly pulled himself across the face of the mountain, one inch at a time, until he reached a place that he could stand.
“Stay calm, Seth. Deep breaths. This is it, one final move and we’re home free.”
As he looked ahead to determine what his next move would be, he realized it was nearly impossible. He would have to jump three feet across to a crevice, gain a secure handhold, and pull himself up, without any hesitation. While standing and repeating his moves, “jump, grab, and pull,” he looked at his surroundings. It was an amazing view and he promised himself, that once he made it to the top, he would take the time to enjoy it.
“This is it, jump, grab, and pull, come on, we can do this.” Taking a deep breath, he gathered himself and jumped…
The moment he jumped, he instantly knew that he wouldn’t make it. Unable to grab the crevice he began to fall and screamed, “No, no!” while frantically clawing at the rock and plunging to his death.
He decided that he didn’t want to experience the imminent impact, and reached out and hit the “Replay” button.
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