A Lover's Revenge (Christian Romance)

Stupid Walls! Part 8

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Chapter 8

"This is how I imagine boot camp would be," Belle was saying as she raced forward and launched herself on the wall and scrambled over.

"I can't do that," Cherry said.

"Just try. There are foot-holds and hand holds. The key isn't to get over the wall the fastest; it's just to get over the wall," Lucas explained.

"Watch the pro kid, I'll go next," Scarface offered and raced forward; she bounced Mya deliberately, scaled the wall and somersaulted to the other side like a super hero. Lucas applauded.

"That was fantastic."

Scarface looked so pleased at the simple show of respect that it made Mya almost smile. It seemed so strange that someone as tough as Scarface could assign so much relevance to a simple compliment. Perhaps it was the gift Lucas had to make stupid girls feel appreciated.

"I'll go next then," Riley offered. She was much slower and the climb for her seemed laborious. When she finally made it to the top she looked totally relieved.

"Go down on the other side, going down is always easier," Lucas yelled to her. She nodded her head and started down.

"Did you learn anything from your climb?" Lucas asked.

"It was tough," Riley muttered and everyone laughed.

"Yes it was," Lucas agreed with a smile. "But you kept going in spite of the challenges and you made it."

Riley chuckled and went to sit beneath a nearby tree.

"Who's next?" Lucas called.

"Guess I'll try then. If old lady Riley can do it I guess I can do it," Cherry muttered and then hurried forward to the wall.

"You're doing well," Lucas encouraged as she reached the wall and turned around with a frightened face.

"I don't think I can," she muttered.

"Of course you can Cherry," Riley said in what was barely more than a whisper. "We all can."

Cherry gripped the first foothold and then started to pull herself up her slender arms straining from the effort.

"I'll fall," she muttered.

"And you'll get back up. It's only seven feet tall," Lucas advised.

"I can't," Cherry insisted as she gripped the handhold just above her head and struggled a few inches higher.

"You're doing great," Lucas said.

"Come on Scarface," Belle said suddenly. In seconds the two of them were scaling the wall again on both sides of Cherry.

"What are you doing? You're going to make me fall!" Cherry yelled fearfully.

"No we're not," Belle said reaching the top just behind Scarface and reaching down a hand, Scarface followed. "We're going to help you up."

"I..." Cherry seemed hesitant.

"Give me your hand," Scarface instructed. Cherry slid one hand gingerly into the air and Scarface gripped it firmly. "Give the other hand to Belle!"

There was a brief hesitation and then Cherry was slipping her other hand up. In seconds the two women had hauled Cherry onto the top of the wall and the three of them were looking down at Lucas with huge smiles on their faces.

"That's cheating," Lucas said but he was laughing.

"It's not cheating. We're learning that sometimes people who are all struggling can get through better if they work together," Scarface pointed out.

"I'm going to have to make you a teacher," Lucas responded laughing louder.

"I'd like that," Scarface said but her voice was much more serious.

"My turn," Red said sizing up the wall carefully.

"Don't get intimidated," Lucas said.

"I can do this." Red raced forward and sprang clinging to the handholds desperately.

"Need a push sweetheart?" Belle asked.

"I can do this on my own," Red managed to get out.

"Suit yourself love, I'm happy to sit here all day and watch you struggle," Belle responded dropping onto the ground to do just that.

Red gripped another hold and managed to drag herself up a few more inches.

"You're doing great," Lucas shouted. "Search for the footholds."

They watched as Red's foot poked about along the wall searching for a foothold.

"This is just painful," Scarface muttered. "If I knew she was going to be this lame I would have gotten a snack."

"Great job, just one more hold and you can pull yourself to the top," Lucas said ignoring scarface. "Now jump onto the other side."

"Ow." That was Red dropping onto the other side and rolling.

"Looks like your turn now Mya," Riley said.

"No thanks," Mya muttered.

"Why not?" Lucas asked.

"I don't want to. I don't see the point."

"The point is being able to show you can face the challenges of life and find ways to overcome them," Lucas explained.

"It's a wall, it's not a challenge and it's not life," Mya responded.

"Isn't it? Isn't it just what life is? A series of walls that we build up to keep hurt out and then we find out that those same walls keep us in? If we start to find ways of getting over those walls we might be able to really start living again and reach our full potential," Lucas said.

"That's dumb," Mya muttered turning and walking away from the group.

"Is that how you face your walls? You walk away from them?" Lucas shouted after her.

"Lunch!" Sonia came out of the door banging on the back of a pot. "Lunch is ready."

"Okay, let's break for now and have lunch we don't want to overdo things on our first day here, we'll come back tomorrow and finish our wall session. This afternoon is clean up and getting to know you session."

Mya hurried ahead of the group, she had hated that session. Lucas might want them to think that walls were that easy to get over but she knew better, they weren't. If there was anything she learnt from that lesson was that walls, like obstacles, were present in life because other people put them there.