Unsung

Chapter Thirty-Four

It was Friday afternoon and we were in the middle of a particularly grueling session of rock climbing, most of which I'd spent trying to get myself past the fifth hold. I always started off strong, feeling like the climb wouldn't be that bad. And the first two were so easy that I somehow lulled myself into a false sense of ability. But then, with each subsequent step up, it got harder, and my resolve began to waver along with my arms and I inevitably tumbled back down to the ground.

At least there were safety ropes on me when I messed up. There was something to be said for not landing flat on your butt every few minutes that did wonders for your self-esteem.

Even when everyone around you left you in their dust.

My general suckage at rock climbing didn't come as a surprise to me. My arms were flimsy like noodles. The biggest workout they'd gotten before I'd started training was when I'd held my pencil to draw or the rare occasion that I got stuck doing warm-ups in gym class. Neither one of those experiences had adequately prepared me for the athletic endeavors that had become a part of my every afternoon.

And even though I'd been going to the Cain institute every weekday for about three weeks, my muscles hadn't quite caught up yet. They were still wimpy as ever.

At least one of my biggest fears had finally disappeared though. I no longer worried that I was going to be kicked out because of my lack of skills. Not because I'd managed to pick up many along the way. I just figured that if they were going to nix me, they would've done it by now.

"Stop getting ahead of yourself Kida!" our rock-climbing instructor, Gina, yelled out to me from her place on the ground below. "You're already thinking about the twenty other holds above you, instead of just focusing on the next one you need to grab."

"There are twenty more?" I yelled down to her through gritted teeth. My arms were already shaking and I could see my fingertips turning white. No way was I making it another twenty feet. "Nope. Nope, nope, nope, nope..."

I let go of the holds and allowed my body to go limp. Gina slowly let out the slack on the rope attached to my harness and brought me back down to the ground. As my feet touched the floor, I shook out my arms, trying to regain feeling in them again. Annoyed by my lack of progression, I crossed them over my chest like a petulant child.

"What happened up there?" Gina asked me, motioning up to the enormous wall above us. "You were doing fine and then you just—gave up."

"Oh, I don't know, maybe someone clued me into the fact that I had another twenty stories to go, and I decided that was just, well—insane!" I said. I was tired and hot and hadn't had anything to eat since lunch and could feel the crankiness creeping up on me fast. So what if the others seemed to be handling class just fine. I shouldn't be expected to be at their levels yet anyway.

Gina gave me an understanding smile. "Sorry about that," she said. "What I meant was that instead of thinking about how far you have to go, just take it one hold at a time. Twenty holds is hard. But you can do just one, can't you? Then, once you've done that, I bet you'll find you can do one more."

"Maybe you can," I grumbled.

"You can too," Gina said with a wink. "Why don't you take a few minutes? Go get some water and we'll try it again."

I started to trudge in the direction of the water station located in the lounge area at the front of the room, but slowed down as I saw Cain approaching. It was becoming less of a surprise to see him around the center, but he was usually always flying solo. This time there was a man with him, meticulously dressed in an expensive-looking suit, nodding as Cain talked and motioned around.