Morning all and Happy Monday. I hope you had a fabulous weekend. I had a pretty good one. Nice and Quiet. I ended up binge watching the Haunting of Bly Manor on Netflix. Didn’t really mean to, I meant to just get the feel for it with the first episode when putting in a load of laundry. Ended up doing a massive spring laundry (blankets, stored sheets, etc) and then binge watching the nine part series. But at least all of my clothes are clean and the winter blankets are fresh for their vacuum sealed summer storage. Even though it is still early spring they are too warm to sleep under. It was a good series though. I liked it. But that is not the point of the post. The point is the morning’s writing prompt so timers at the ready and off we go.
I like this. I am not entirely certain what happened but I think that it wasn’t an accident and the others were tying to kill her. At least those are my thoughts and I will be taking more notes on this once I have finished posting. Kind of nice for a Monday. Well story line nice, not so m nice with the attempted murder thing. You know what I mean.
Monday, March 11th: The boulders were enormous.
The boulders were enormous. Just looking at them made my bruised skin throb with pain. Still, there was no other way out. ‘I’ve come this far,’ I told myself. ‘What’s a few more boulders.’
I tried not to think of the enormity of them, to just take each one at as I went. Each boulder I searched for cracks and creases, folds in the rock that my aching fingers could latch onto or the toes of my boots slide into. The leather toes of my boots were worn through at this point and the metal reinforcement of the toes was shining through. My fingers were bruised and scraped raw.
I ached down to my bones, but I couldn’t stop. I had to get out. ‘Just this last slope to go,’ I told myself. I could see daylight at the top. My throat was too dry to try calling out and I doubted if anyone was even close enough to hear me if I did call for help.
‘Stupid,’ I thought, and not for the first time. I was no longer sure who I was aiming the thought at. The group for not telling anyone of our plans or me for going along with it. ‘Just a walk in the mountains. A quick hike.’
It hadn’t gone that way, and I had no idea what happened to the others. I pushed the thoughts away. I climbed, my mind focusing only on the large boulders and their craggy surfaces. The daylight edged closer. The air freshened. My lungs drank it in. I hadn’t realized quite how stale the air had been until the fresh air came in. It felt like my lungs were being washed clean.
I reached the top. My head emerging into bright sunlight. The world above looked freshly scrubbed. Had a new day dawned? I pulled myself out of the hole. It was long slightly wider than my shoulders and for a moment I thought I would stick. Panic threatened and I pushed hard with all the strength I had. I popped loose like a cork from a champagne bottle and slid a little way down the scree of the slope.
I lay fully exposed to the sunlight. I was free of the mountain. For a moment all I could do was lay there and breathe. I regained a little strength and managed to push myself to my feet. I swayed a little as I looked around. A short way from where I stood there was a trail winding down the side of the mountain. It was a thin trail that looked more like it was made by goats than man, but it led down off the mountain.
‘It is flat and clear and has to be easier than the climb.’ I told myself, trying for a pep talk. My mouth was too dry to utter the words aloud and my water ran out. I needed to get off this mountain more than I needed anything else. I slip-slided my way over the loose rock to the path. The path was as firm and as flat as I hoped. It sloped downward, slightly and I looked at that as an encouraging sign as I began to walk.
Slowly the heights of the mountain rose behind me and I could feel the descent. I gasped with joy when I saw the roof of the small way station. I would have cried if I had any water left in me.
Ten til Midnight 