Mountain of madness

Jeffrey, I met a man sitting on a mountain path that lead to the summit. Amidst the snow and the wind he sat idle. I don't know what he was doing there. He wore thin clothes. Nothing suitable for the cold mountain air. In fact I wasn't even dressed for the cold. That's why I did not linger to chat long.His attire on the other hand seemed fit for sunny days and marmer halls. On my way back I felt unease. A certain feel had crept up on me. I can't quite explain it. There was something off about him for sure. When he spoke he spoke vaguely. He seemed distracted for the entirety of our short conversation. He started off into the distance and when he spoke he spoke slowly. Even though his strangeness there was a certain wisdom about him. It had something primal if I had to try and put it some way. In his meditational stare he chanted things. Sometimes softly and sometimes loud. They were quite ungraspable but if I had to guess they were mantras of some sort."

Chester sat down by the fire, his back rested against a log. Jeffrey who was making coffee did not look up from his pan above the flames. That's very odd, who'd stay around here? This area is uninhabitable. He would not live here most likely. And in such clothing! I have a hard time understanding where you're going with this story, Chester. It makes no sense."

Chester nodded.

"That's what I thought. He spoke of the strangest of things. I am in fact not sure what he actually meant with most of his words. This day around noon I left for a walk. I did not dress properly enough since I did not expect to go high up the mountain. Yet it was a beautiful afternoon and the cold did not get to me yet. I wandered too far for too long. And before I knew it I was far away from camp. The path cornered around the mountain. And from up high I heard chanting. It was the man's mantra. I decided to explore and found him sitting there cross legged, elevated on a flat rock. I assure you it did not look comfortable. The obvious thing for me to do was to greet him of course. Though strange, him sitting there wasn't in any way supernatural. The man didn't answer however. Instead he kept watching into the distance with his thousand- yard stare.. What had this man seen that put him in such a trance? He had certainly lost his way I thought. I watched him closely for a few minutes. Then I approached him and asked for how long he had been sitting here.

Without losing focus he distantly answered that he had sat there for a long time. Without knowing exactly why I offered him food, and when he did not seem to plan on leaving I even offered him my coat and to take him back to camp. For he would surely die of hypothermia where he to remain there. The man declined. And for a second I saw wrinkles in his face that had not been there before. His eyes looked as distant as before but this was the first time he spoke out of his own instead of simply answering my questions.

"I shall remain here. For I have failed." he said. And when I told him he would surely die if he did and hey couldn't possibly deserve that, he didn't answer me. I tried grabbing his arm but upon laying my finger upon him something strange happened. The earth shook and the sky darkened. Thunder roared through the air. And for the first time that hour he broke his gaze and looked directly into my eyes. There was something wrong about his stare Jeffrey. He spoke again. He spoke of his failure and decline over the years without being specific. Just as I said he spoke in riddles so I did not know what he was talking about.

You surely must have noticed an earthquake or a storm. Have you not?" Chester asked.

"I've seen nothing but beautiful weather all day. What a strange thing to say. I'm not sure I'm believing your story." Jeffrey said.

"I speak nothing but the truth my friend. We chatted a bit. And all I concluded was that he liked some local greek food. For he spoke in riddles and deducting anything noteworthy was impossible.

At some moments he seemed more... Here... than at others. Sometimes he would slip into trance and no communication was possible. He seemed in shock or dazzled at such times.

To this very moment I still wonder what he was doing there. Would he still be there? It's been hours. He would've surely slipped into unconsciousness by now.

But what had he failed in? I think the entirety of humanity had failed when the apocalypse had finally come upon us. I still remember the day. The oceans swallowed lands whole. Forests burned to a crisp by fires that had sprouted from the earth itself.

The complete anarchy that followed only made it sensible for us to flee into the mountains did it not? It is good that we did because the flood that followed would have surely killed us.

But who was this man? What had he failed at. What is it that he could've done so wrong that hadn't already been going wrong for centuries?