Hiking
by Dominik Slusarczyk
“We’ll never make the jump,” Sally says. She is tall, blonde, beautiful. Her ponytail flicks back and forth like a horse’s tail. Her backpack is attached so tightly that I can see the straps digging into her shoulders. “We should go back.”
“The guidebook says this is the right way,” I say. My messy moustache tickles my top lip as I speak. I reach up and tighten the straps of my backpack a little. “It’s not far. It’s only a little jump.”
Sally walks forwards and peers over the drop. The colour drains from her face. I approach the drop and stand by her side. I roll my eyes at her. It is only 20 feet to the ground. Sure, the rocks look sharp, but we will just not fall down there. The gap is only four or five feet wide so we can jump it easily.
“Haven’t you seen that Parkour?” I ask. “People do jumps like this on the top of skyscrapers. We’re basically in a field. It’ll be easy.”
“I don’t know, Gary. If we miss the jump, we’ll fall and break our legs. Who knows how long it’ll take them to get paramedics all the way up here.”
“I’ll go first,” I say. I take a couple of steps backwards then I take a deep breath and jog towards the gap.
“The guidebook says this is the right way,” I say. My messy moustache tickles my top lip as I speak. I reach up and tighten the straps of my backpack a little. “It’s not far. It’s only a little jump.”
Sally walks forwards and peers over the drop. The colour drains from her face. I approach the drop and stand by her side. I roll my eyes at her. It is only 20 feet to the ground. Sure, the rocks look sharp, but we will just not fall down there. The gap is only four or five feet wide so we can jump it easily.
“Haven’t you seen that Parkour?” I ask. “People do jumps like this on the top of skyscrapers. We’re basically in a field. It’ll be easy.”
“I don’t know, Gary. If we miss the jump, we’ll fall and break our legs. Who knows how long it’ll take them to get paramedics all the way up here.”
“I’ll go first,” I say. I take a couple of steps backwards then I take a deep breath and jog towards the gap.
“It must be broken,” Sally shouts from the top of the canyon. Her face looks small and childlike from where I am. “Don’t try to move. I’ll go and get help.”
Sally’s face disappears from view. I return my attention to my body. My left leg is twisted uncomfortably under my body. I desperately want to free it, but I am worried that if I do I will do it more damage. That leg took most of the impact. I heard a number of snaps. It aches something horrid.
The first wolf shows up as the sun is setting. He pauses at the edge of the forest a couple of hundred yards away. He sits on his haunches and stares at me for over a minute before he decides to approach. He walks forward until he is only fifty yards away then he sits on his haunches again. He just sits there; he doesn’t attack or growl or anything. An hour later another wolf appears and sits beside the first wolf. By the time the sun has started to set there are four or five wolves. They just sit there and stare at me. I don’t know what they’re waiting for, but they will surely attack soon.
Sally’s face disappears from view. I return my attention to my body. My left leg is twisted uncomfortably under my body. I desperately want to free it, but I am worried that if I do I will do it more damage. That leg took most of the impact. I heard a number of snaps. It aches something horrid.
The first wolf shows up as the sun is setting. He pauses at the edge of the forest a couple of hundred yards away. He sits on his haunches and stares at me for over a minute before he decides to approach. He walks forward until he is only fifty yards away then he sits on his haunches again. He just sits there; he doesn’t attack or growl or anything. An hour later another wolf appears and sits beside the first wolf. By the time the sun has started to set there are four or five wolves. They just sit there and stare at me. I don’t know what they’re waiting for, but they will surely attack soon.
I hear the helicopter before I see it: a low humming fills the air. The humming gets louder and louder until, suddenly, a bright spotlight appears on the ground nearby. The bright light lands on the line of wolves and illuminates them strongly. The wolves immediately stand up and wander back into the forest.
The humming is a roar in the air above me now. I stare upwards and the huge black form of the helicopter enters my vision. The search light attached underneath the helicopter blinds me. I raise my hand to shield my eyes from the glare.
I hear something drop from the helicopter and impact with the ground. I turn my head and see the end of a soft, black, rope. I crane my head slightly more upwards and see the black shadow of a person descending the rope. My eyes follow the person all the way to the ground.
“Mr. Phillips, is it?” The man shouts over the roar of the helicopter. I nod and raise the hand that isn’t shielding my eyes to give him a thumbs up.
The man attaches a red harness to me and then he attaches the harness to the rope. When he is happy that I am secure he tugs on the rope twice. The rope starts to drag me upwards. As soon as my left leg moves there is shooting pain which is so intense, I open my mouth and scream.
The humming is a roar in the air above me now. I stare upwards and the huge black form of the helicopter enters my vision. The search light attached underneath the helicopter blinds me. I raise my hand to shield my eyes from the glare.
I hear something drop from the helicopter and impact with the ground. I turn my head and see the end of a soft, black, rope. I crane my head slightly more upwards and see the black shadow of a person descending the rope. My eyes follow the person all the way to the ground.
“Mr. Phillips, is it?” The man shouts over the roar of the helicopter. I nod and raise the hand that isn’t shielding my eyes to give him a thumbs up.
The man attaches a red harness to me and then he attaches the harness to the rope. When he is happy that I am secure he tugs on the rope twice. The rope starts to drag me upwards. As soon as my left leg moves there is shooting pain which is so intense, I open my mouth and scream.
“The guidebook says this is the way,” I say, though I am unsure of it myself. The path, if it can even be called a path, is broken, thin, in distinct. It is nothing more than a whisper of flat ground on the edge of the mountain peak that rises high above us. I haven’t inspected it yet but I am sure there is a vast drop to the right of the path.
“Look,” I say as I hold out the map for Sally to see. She stares over my shoulder at the map.
“We came up here,” I say, pointing at the right place on the map. “Then we went over this bit here, up that bit there, and now we’re here. The little blue line we’re following goes right up the mountain.”
“Remember Cornwall,” Sally says. “It’s only a little jump, you said. It’ll be easy, you said. It’s what the guidebook says, you said.”
“The walks are supposed to be challenging; that’s half the fun. Putting yourself in a bit of danger is exciting.”
“Go and look at the drop.”
I lower the map, approach the path, and peer over the edge to its right. The drop is huge - hundreds of feet. The path is so thin, so spindly, that we wouldn’t even be able to fit both our feet on it, side by side. One wrong step and we would surely die; there would be no helicopters, no hospitals. I turn and walk back to Sally.
“The guidebook’s stupid,” I say. “There’s no way I’m climbing that mountain.”
“Some people enjoy putting their life in danger. They like sky diving and squirrel suits and all that rubbish. They get some kind of sick rush out of almost dying. A lot of them die doing their strange stunts.”
“I just wanted to stretch my legs. I never wanted danger. I never wanted to risk my life. I just wanted a pleasant little hobby.”
“We can do a different hobby. We can start a book club or something.”
“That sounds like a lovely idea.”
We start walking back down the mountain side by side. I take Sally’s hand and she squeezes my hand gently.
“What book do you want to read?” I ask.
“Anything except that damn guidebook.”
“
We could start a cooking club. Everyone can cook their favourite meal.”
“We could start a knitting club. I’ve always wanted to make you a jumper.”
“I would like that very much. I would wear it every day.”
We get to the car park at the bottom of the mountain. The sun is still high in the sky. Our walk was supposed to take 4 hours, but we were only gone for half an hour. Sometimes you know when to stop. Sometimes you don’t know when to stop and someone has to stop you. We are all too embarrassed to admit it, but we desperately need other people.
“Look,” I say as I hold out the map for Sally to see. She stares over my shoulder at the map.
“We came up here,” I say, pointing at the right place on the map. “Then we went over this bit here, up that bit there, and now we’re here. The little blue line we’re following goes right up the mountain.”
“Remember Cornwall,” Sally says. “It’s only a little jump, you said. It’ll be easy, you said. It’s what the guidebook says, you said.”
“The walks are supposed to be challenging; that’s half the fun. Putting yourself in a bit of danger is exciting.”
“Go and look at the drop.”
I lower the map, approach the path, and peer over the edge to its right. The drop is huge - hundreds of feet. The path is so thin, so spindly, that we wouldn’t even be able to fit both our feet on it, side by side. One wrong step and we would surely die; there would be no helicopters, no hospitals. I turn and walk back to Sally.
“The guidebook’s stupid,” I say. “There’s no way I’m climbing that mountain.”
“Some people enjoy putting their life in danger. They like sky diving and squirrel suits and all that rubbish. They get some kind of sick rush out of almost dying. A lot of them die doing their strange stunts.”
“I just wanted to stretch my legs. I never wanted danger. I never wanted to risk my life. I just wanted a pleasant little hobby.”
“We can do a different hobby. We can start a book club or something.”
“That sounds like a lovely idea.”
We start walking back down the mountain side by side. I take Sally’s hand and she squeezes my hand gently.
“What book do you want to read?” I ask.
“Anything except that damn guidebook.”
“
We could start a cooking club. Everyone can cook their favourite meal.”
“We could start a knitting club. I’ve always wanted to make you a jumper.”
“I would like that very much. I would wear it every day.”
We get to the car park at the bottom of the mountain. The sun is still high in the sky. Our walk was supposed to take 4 hours, but we were only gone for half an hour. Sometimes you know when to stop. Sometimes you don’t know when to stop and someone has to stop you. We are all too embarrassed to admit it, but we desperately need other people.
“I liked the Henry character,” Mrs. Humster says. She is wearing the fluffy pink cardigan Sally knitted for her. She has short curly black hair and thick circular glasses. “He could’ve killed the bad wizard all on his own: he has the most powerful wand.”
“Yes, but Angela has the best cloak,” Mr. Rodgers says. “Nothing can hurt her when she’s wearing her cloak. If you’re going to fight an evil wizard, you need Angela by your side.”
“They make a good team,” Sally says. She is sat directly on my left. I look at her and smile. She returns my smile. Her eyes are wide and happy.
“I can’t wait to read the next one,” I say. “The internet says it’s out in a couple of months.”
That night I think about the book as I lie in bed. I think about good wizards and bad wizards, good people, and bad people, and how they both need each other, or they would never get to go on adventures worthy of immortalising in book form.
“Yes, but Angela has the best cloak,” Mr. Rodgers says. “Nothing can hurt her when she’s wearing her cloak. If you’re going to fight an evil wizard, you need Angela by your side.”
“They make a good team,” Sally says. She is sat directly on my left. I look at her and smile. She returns my smile. Her eyes are wide and happy.
“I can’t wait to read the next one,” I say. “The internet says it’s out in a couple of months.”
That night I think about the book as I lie in bed. I think about good wizards and bad wizards, good people, and bad people, and how they both need each other, or they would never get to go on adventures worthy of immortalising in book form.
Dominik Slusarczyk is an artist who makes everything from music to painting. He was educated at The University of Nottingham where he got a degree in biochemistry. His poetry has been published in various literary journals including Fresh Words, Dream Noir, and Home Planet News.