The birds had the devil in their eyes

My arms felt like paper. They were so thin and permeable, they almost gave out as I was climbing that rope. It was so cloudy, everyday was so lurid and so cloudy. I wanted to look up so badly and see the sky and the end of the rope but the rain blinded me. I knew there was something up there waiting for me, but I couldn't see it and so I kept climbing. There were birds swirling all around me. They were black, all of them swirling around with these feathers the color of ink. Not fresh ink, but grey ink that had been left out to dry for days. The color that death would be if it had a color. These birds with their ugly grey feathers and ruthless black eyes. Cold, black beady eyes that rested deep inside of their skulls, piercing through me. The devil was in those eyes. Around and around they flew next to me, mocking me, as I held on tightly to the rope.
The devil was watching me and I knew he was laughing. I couldn't hear it, but I could see his laughter in the black eyes. He followed me, up and up I went. The lightening flashed, sometimes it found me and went into my heart. I would cry so loud, but the thunder enveloped my voice. And the devil laughed. I fell all the way back down to the valley. My pitiful body hit the cold stiff ground and I was asleep. The sun flowed through the clouds and in between two tiny slits I looked to the top of the mountain. The water fell all around but I climbed the rope again. The rain fell, the birds flew, and I climbed. The bones in my arms felt like tiny pieces of glass, floating and spewing beneath my skin. I thought they might break through, the glass pieces would break through and I wouldn't be able to climb anymore.
Then the rain turned into a soft mist. The drops showered over my body and molded together on my skin like a sheer blanket. The birds, scattered around me still, flew further away. Their piercing eyes looking back at me, watching, laughing. The clouds broke a part, and I climbed. I looked up and there stood the ledge, unwavering. It was almost palpable now. The top of the rope began to fall a part and I knew I had to climb faster. I was so tired, so frail, but still I climbed. There I knew the sunny place waited for me. If I made one more pull to thrust myself up, higher, just a little higher. I could stand beneath the sun. The birds flew away, I could hear them screeching in the distance. Their black eyes turned away, towards the fading storm.
I forced my broken body of glass over the edge and lay my head in the soft dirt. It was so soft and warm from the sunlight that it seemed to melt the skin on my face. I looked up and saw the blue of the sky above me. A single black bird flew overhead before it fell beneath the ledge, disappearing, that devil fleeting down.