Mountain Climber (COMPLETED)

11

Segarra woke. Sun glared warm on her face and she squinted. Something cool was being dropped in her mouth. She remembered this cool bliss. She had tasted it before.

Water!

The refreshing drops came slowly, but she licked her cracked lips eagerly each time she felt a one fall. They seemed to come without end! When they finally did stopped, Segarra closed her eyes again.

When she next woke, the delirium was gone...forever. Her mind was clear. She sat up and looked around. There were no trees, only low lying brush, rocks and dirt. She was lying on a particularly soft patch of moss. As she sat up, Segarra noticed that her hands barely hurt. Looking, she saw they were bandaged as well as her feet. With her fingertips that suck out of the clean white wrap, Segarra touched her face. No blood.

She simply sat there for a very long time, looking, listening. She hadn't done that in a while; too long. In time, a sound reached her ears. It sounded like a thousand voices whispering so sweetly. Again, she realized it was water! But this time it was flowing water, not dripping. She crawled to the sound some ways off beyond a bolder.

It was as she had expected...the creek. But this time it was full to the brim with water. The once dry stones at the bottom had been drowned again in glassy water. Nothing could be so pleasing to Segarra's sight.

She first smiled, then laughed, then cried with joy! Without wasting a second, she jumped, fully clothed, into the creek. Splashing, and laughing, she called out, "Thank you, Daddy! Oh thank you! Thank you!"

She swam under the water. She swam over the water. Now splashing. Now kicking. Now leaping. Now drinking.

When finally her excited energy faded -only a little mind you- Segarra crawled drenched and exuberant out of the creek. She lay herself down on one of the sun warmed rocks and was soon sleeping again.

"Segarra. Segarra!"

It was Ezri. The familiar voice gently eased Segarra out of her deep refreshing slumber. Her friend was standing above her looking down with an affable smile. "How are you, Segarra?"

"I'm amazing." She sat up and rubbed some of the sleep from her eyes.

"What have you been doing lately?"

"I have been climbing my first mountain." Suddenly Segarra leapt up from the warm rock. "Where am I? And how did you get here?" Segarra walked around the treeless expanse until she saw a cliff some ways below her. Then it all flooded back to her. As she looked down, she saw that the cliff was endless. Looking further, Segarra could see the steep path impeded by thorns and brush. In fact, she could see the path all the way back to the meadow. "I am at the top." The mere fact dazed and stunned her, but she had deep feeling of completion.

"What do you mean, 'at the top'? The top of what?"

"I'm at the top of my mountain!" Segarra was growing steadily more excited. "But how are you here? Did you climb the mountain too?"

"No. I am not at the top of a mountain. I am just visiting you. I have been trying to see you for awhile now, but I could never come. I've never had that problem before."

This answer made sense to Segarra. Travelers' paths often intersected or sometimes a traveler could visit another one. To the one visiting it never seemed like they left their trail, but they could talk easily with friends. However Segarra didn't know why Ezri would not have been able to visit her. She had never heard of that.

"Tell me about your climb, Segarra."

"Gladly." So Segarra started the tail, and told her friend everything. At the end, Segarra became hushed. "Now I'm at the top. I'm finally here, after all that."

Ezri had tears in her eyes. "You made it," she beamed.

There was too much joy in the moment to let it go to waste, so the two girls plunged with joyful shouts into the creek.

Eventually Ezri left and Segarra sat at the top watching the sunset. She had not seen a sunset from so high before. In the meadow the trees from the distant forest blocked much of the view, and in the woods, Segarra had seen nothing at all.

Now pink danced the sky waltz with maroon, while purple and orange kissed in the remote corners of the sky.

"Daddy."

Yes.

"I love you."

I love you too.

With some slight surprise, Segarra realized that for the first time since she had left the man at the base of the mountain, she really truly knew for sure that he was right there with her, and had been, and always would be.

"Good night, Daddy."

A very good night, Segarra.