The Mountain

The Mountain

The boys got permission to ride their bikes to the edge of Harris Mountain because their scout troop was planning a climb in the summer and they were all excited about it. They could ride as far as the first trail and back in an hour and get a good look at the mountain.

Unfortunately, Gary invited himself along. Gary was a loud, pushy, braggart, not even in scouts (calling them sissies for wearing uniforms.) But they couldn’t tell him he couldn’t come, so they just hoped for the best.

Once they got there they stopped to soak it all in. As they looked up excitedly, a dark cloud floated across the sun making them shiver, and Gary said, “Let’s go up!”

“We can’t,” Dennis said, “we promised we wouldn’t climb.”

“Ah, come on! We’re right here, who’s gonna know?” Gary coaxed.

When the boys still refused he popped into bully mode. “You’re a bunch of wimps, I knew it! Go home losers, I’ll go myself, I don’t need you sissies…” and off he stomped up the trail.

The boys didn’t know what to do, finally they decided to phone their parents, then waited at the end of the trail in case Gary came back.

But Gary was in full stubborn bully mode, stomping up the trail talking to himself. “Stupid jerks, they’d never take a chance, the wimps! I’ll show them!” Arriving at the first rocky climb, he started climbing. Suddenly another cloud covered the sun sending a chill down his back. Stubbornly shaking it off, he started climbing, yelling, “I’m not afraid of you stupid cloud, or this stupid mountain either!”

As his foot slipped he started falling, then a soft breeze tickled his ear and he seemed to hear, “Be afraid you big jerk, be very afraid…”