Day 14

14. Write a story about falling off something very high and almost dying.

I dare not look down. My heels are unsupported, hanging over the edge. I know what's behind me, no need to look.

Climbing out of the canyon with Harry sounded like a great idea at the time. From the ground it looks like a shallow enough grade that we would never find ourselves in this position. But as we ascended, the easy grade ended. For the past twenty minutes we have been shuffling along narrow ledges and climbing when the foot holes existed.

Now, we were both trapped along a ledge, maybe 4 inches wide. We could turn back, if the ground didn't give way ten feet earlier. The only way out was to continue climbing up. But the terrain exceeded our skill capacity. Definitely stuck.

Harry looks at me and says, "I'm going to go for it, the top is only 20 feet further."

"I'll follow, as long as the ground doesn't give out behind you," I sputter. I'm afraid of heights by-the-way, but I'm not sure that even matters in this situation. I think 99/100 people would be shiting their pants in this situation, just like me.

Harry starts to move upward, holding onto a rounded rock protruding from the wall. He places his foot into a concave section, and finds himself 3 feet closer to safety. His next move is a long reach to a root system sticking out. As he grabs it, it gives way. But Harry is able to save himself by leaning into the wall. "What's next?" I ask. "How about this little hole..." as he places his hand into the hole his foot gives.

Harry tumbles down the three feet, into me, and we are both falling now. I was instinctive enough to push away from the wall as he hit me, and we fall straight into the easier grade. My view is hindered from the addrenalin and dust, but i know we have landed in loose rock and gravel, and I start to roll further down the hill. Amazingly, we both spring up and dust ourselves off. We are still halfway up the canyon, but safe and unharmed minus a few scraped and bruises.

When we look back up at the vertical wall, we see that we only fell five feet. We had spent 20 minutes climbing 5 feet. I considered the fall a blessing. We would have spent another hour getting out of there, or suffered a much more sever fall.