Mountain Climber (COMPLETED)

5

The thorns and beasts continued on for some time. Just how long, Segarra never remembered. It got progressively harder to reach the spring every day. This worried Segarra, but not half as much as when she could no longer find the spring. One day it was there, the next it was gone. She didn't stray from the trail more than she had in the past to get water because of the man's words. "You will find the top if you always go strait." So strait she went. On and on.

Then a day came that changed it all. She was climbing as normal; push through the brush, pick away the thorns, try to avoid the rocks whenever possible. A feeling that she recognized suddenly came over her. The cool air around her grew cold and she shivered. The feeling began to intensify. It was not confusion, but Segarra was more confused the she ever remembered being.

The feeling was sadness.

Segarra had felt sadness before, and she knew everybody else had. But this time the sadness was more intense than anything she had ever felt. As the feeling grew Segarra had to sit down on the slope. Sharp rocks were under her, sharp thorns beside her, and a sharp pain was in her. Segarra had never been one to show sadness, but now on this lonely mountain, as she sat on the hard earth, she cried like she never had before. She was entirely clueless as to why she cried. She didn't know, but she still felt the pain of sadness none the less. She sobbed. A cry of anguish was pulled from her and she begged for the man to come back.

Daddy! What is this? Please...come back! I need you!

I'm here.

Where are you?

I'm here. Just look.

Segarra opened her eyes which had been shut tightly. She tried to see, but her tears obstructed her vision. Wiping her eyes, she tried again. She saw nothing but the stony path and the thorns that were growing so thickly.

It was sudden, but before Segarra knew quite what was happening, the unbearable feeling was gone. Looking up uncertainly, she called out, "Daddy? What was that?"

You have to know what the pain of sadness feels like.

"But why?"

Future pain will be unbearable if you don't know what it is like now.

"Future pain? Unbearable? That was unbearable. And why should I go through this now? Why not then?"

The time will come when you can understand all things. And as for 'unbearable' you are still alive aren't you?

"I suppose I am." She sat, staring down at the ground. Rubbing her eyes and forehead, Segarra asked in a whisper of a voice, "Can I rest? I don't think I can go further today."

I'm sorry, you must go on.

"Will you give me a drink then? I haven't had a drink for many days. I don't even remember now. Everything seems to be muddling. Please, water."

No. You must not form a dependence on it.

Shaking her head wearily, Segarra mustered the strength to move on. Progress was slow and painstaking. The strange and sudden attack of sadness had shocked her. The rest of that day went by in a blur. Night came but sleep was not a relief. The creatures and sounds haunted her sleep. No energy was gained that night, or any other night for weeks. The things came every night and she feared sleep, lest they come and take her by surprise.

It was quite some days, but it felt like only hours when Segarra felt the intense sadness again. Through the fog of the pain, she wondered how she couldn't remember the last time it had happened. The world was muddling, blurring, slowly blending together in one puddle of delirium. But the change was happening slow enough that Segarra did not notice how bad her state was becoming.