Eli's List by Tal Lingenua (best short novels .txt) 📕

“Listen to me, Eli. You need to swing back to the mountain and grab it, okay?”

Eli didn’t want to get back on the mountain; she wanted to get on the ground. “Can’t you lower me to the ground?”

“I could…” Iria said, “but I thought you wanted to climb to the top.”

“It’s too hard and I’m hurt.”

Although Iria wanted to lower her sister safely back to the ground, she knew how much Eli had wanted to climb Corcovado, and falls like this were obstacles she would have to overcome.

“I’m not lowering you.” Iria called. “Climbers fall all the time and you have to get back on your feet.”

“Why the sudden change of heart?”

“I could ask you the same thing.”

Eli hung there, motionless and silent.

“Come on Eli, you can do this!”

“No I can’t! I’m too tired and too weak.”

Iria let out a deep sigh. “You have to have faith in yourself. When we first came, I didn’t think you could belay me but I put my faith in you and you did it fantastically. I didn’t think you could climb the mountain but I saw you on it and now I know I’m wrong. You can climb Corcovado, Eli.”

Eli opened her eyes and after a few moments, she swung herself back onto the mountain. Looking up at the anchor, she saw that it was only a few hundred feet away. Summoning an inner reserve of strength, she found every crack and crevice and grabbed every rock, and although she was beyond tired, she didn’t stop until she reached the anchor.

She scooted as far back on the ledge as she could, which wasn’t very far, and her feet hung over the edge. She had a great deal of difficulty opening her water bottle, but when she finally got it open, she drank nearly half of its contents.

“I knew you could do it,” Iria said triumphantly as she joined her on the ledge. She herself had already climbed up twice before, although she used the rope this time, but seemed barely tired at all.

Eli smiled, but was too much out of breath to say anything.

After resting, the girls prepared to climb to the second pitch. There was a bit more vertical climbing, but first they had to climb down the mountain before reaching a perilous looking ledge, which would require traversing.

"It's easier than climbing upwards," Iria reassured Eli as she tied a rope around each of their waists. "Stay close, but not too close, okay?"

"Don't we have protection?" Eli asked.

Iria shook the rope. She placed her foot on the ledge and then grabbed hold of the overhang. She brought her other foot up onto the ledge and started sidestepping. Once she was a few feet in, Eli pulled herself onto the ledge.

Eli started shuffling her feet. She wondered why people did this. Was it the challenge? Was it the eluding death part? Either way, Eli thought, they belonged in straitjackets.

Eli looked to her left and noticed Iria was getting pretty far ahead. She obviously needed to move faster. She watched as Iria stretched her arms and legs as far as they would go and mimicked her movements. Iria turned to observe her sister, and slowed down a little.

Eli’s hands felt ready to turn to dust and every step sent pain through her arms. Her feet trembled like an earthquake, and she wondered if she could make it. The last time she had fallen, Iria had saved her. If she fell this time, she’d probably kill the pair of them.

She almost looked to the left but stopped herself. I’m almost there, she reassured herself, just a few more steps and I’m there. The pain in her hands progressed from pins to daggers to hot knives. But she was almost there. She had to be.

Her left foot slipped and her heart jumped. Her body slid down the ledge and the task of supporting her weight fell on her hands. Her grip on the overhang loosened and Eli tried desperately to bring her left foot up.

She lost her grip and her right foot slipped off the mountain. She screamed, but fell only for three seconds before swinging into the mountain. She could feel herself being reeled up by the rope and, once near the top, Iria grabbed hold of her hand and pulled her to safety.

They stood on a long, flat overhang. Iria lifted up Eli’s shirt and saw several cuts and bruises from having hit the side of the mountain. There were also some A.L.L. bruises that had burst from the impact. Iria took out the first aid kit and cleaned the injuries as best as she could.

“I’m such an idiot,” Eli said. “I don’t know why I thought I could climb a mountain without killing myself.”

Iria opened her backpack and produced lunch. “You aren’t going to kill yourself climbing this mountain.”

“Only if my A.L.L. takes me now.”

Iria closed her eyes tight and scrunched up her face.

Eli bit into her food and took a sip of water. “Could you go to the top and get a helicopter to airlift me?”

Iria sighed and knelt next to Eli. “Mountain climbing is tough and dangerous, but it’s also a battle to be won, an adrenaline rush to be felt and it’s a triumph of the will.”

“Doesn’t it bother you that you keep having to give speeches just to keep me doing an activity that you didn’t want me to do in the first place?”

Iria laughed. “We both agreed with the other person. The only problem is, we no longer agree with ourselves!”

Eli smiled. “So how do we decide what to do next?”

“Well it’s your list. So I think it’s only fair that you decide.”

Eli looked up the mountain. They were halfway to the top, so close that she could make out the statue of Christ the Redeemer. She’d love to make it to the top, but she knew she probably couldn’t climb the rest of the way there.

“Okay,” Eli said. “I climbed halfway up a mountain and almost fell twice. I’m very tired and I feel like I have frostbite. But hey, climbing halfway up Corcovado with A.L.L. ain’t bad, right?”

Iria nodded. “This is the last item on your list,” she said. “What are you going to do from now on?”

Eli hadn’t thought about that. She was used to waking up every morning and selecting an item from her list. But now that it was finished…

“Beat A.L.L.” Eli said. “Because I still have tons more things I want to do.”

Word count: 3000

Text: Me
Images: Public domain
Editing: Valerie Byron (gooduklady)
Publication Date: 05-31-2012

All Rights Reserved