The Horizon: Chapter 1

The Horizon

Chapter 1:
         Inspiration and Motivation comes in different forms. It can come from a person, an animal, a thought, a hope, a sight, or even a mistake. But it still comes one way or another, and all it took for me to get it was a person and a sight. Two magnificent things were all it took.

.....

         Today, like any other day, started as usual. Waking up with the overly bright sun through the blinds of my window was more than enough to wake me up. It was Saturday Morning, as normal as could be. I threw the covers off and got up on my feet, still feeling drowsy after a long nap. I creaked open my door and heard my mom's soft snoring in the room just down the corridor. I decided to let her rest. I knew that it had been a long day at work for her yesterday.
         I tiptoed downstairs to the living room where it was a dark-grayish color despite a slight beam of sun from the closed window. I grabbed the remote from the TV stand and turned to whatever channel was decent. I eventually found a documentary about albino pigs and left it at that.
         After the documentary finished, I heard my mom get out of bed and yawn just upstairs. I heard her footsteps coming down stairs and then I saw her, messy hair and everything, but still having a drowsy look on her face. "Your up early," she said with a yawn, "I guess your really excited about going to the mountains today.". "Yeah, I guess." I replied drowsily, but really I was excited. The mountains really were a sight to see over here in colorado.
         "Where is everyone?!", a grumpy, high pitched voice called from upstairs. I could hear my sister's light footsteps skimming down the stairs. "Why am I always the last one to get up?" She said once she finally came down to the living room. "And really, why are you always watching weird documentaries?". "They're not weird, they're interesting" I replied. "So anyhow," My mom called from the kitchen, "Who wants breakfast?"
Me and my sister both replied with 'I do's'. "Well you better hold tight, because we gotta hit the road before the traffic builds up!". She both handed us a granola bar. "We'll get something on the way, but for the meantime go take a shower and get ready." We took the granola bar and ate it quickly. After wiping off crumbs me and my sister rushed up to the bathroom. Unfortunately, she beat me to it and I groaned because I knew she takes long showers. She gathered up her clothes and closed the door behind her. "I'll be out right now! Just wait!" She called behind the door.
After about an hour, she came out all spiffy and clean, as usual. She then rushed into her room to get the rest of herself ready. I then gathered up my clothes and jumped in the shower. Unlike my sister, I take quicker showers that are around 15 minutes. After we got ourselves ready, my mom went ahead and got herself ready. Once we all brushed our teeth and took care of our necessities, we got in the car and, well, drove off. Leaving our small, tidy house behind us in the distance.
         We stopped at a diner on this street I've seen a million times. We got out of the car and went through the familiar brown oak door. We ordered as we usually did. I got a grilled cheese, my sister got bacon and eggs, and my mom got an egg sandwich. And we all got pancakes on the side. The breakfast was so good I was actually glad we didn't eat breakfast at home.

......

Once I Saw the towering figures blocking the sun, I knew we were there. The huge, mesmerizing mountains were making gigantic triangle-shaped shadows just beside our car. I always thought that the mountains were a beautiful sight to behold, but they seem to get even more mesmerizing every time we visit them. "So, you guys excited for the Mountains?", my mom said looking back. Me and my sister both nodded in agreement.
Once we found a place to park, we all got out of the car and started down the way to the lake. The lake was always our first stop when we visit the mountains. I squinted against the golden sun to see the lake, but it was there alright, where it's always been. When we arrived at the lake, we found the nearest bench and sat down. My mom pulled out the leftovers from our breakfast so we could feed the ducks in the pond.
Me and my sister took the leftovers and headed to the edge of the pond. I threw the pancake bits in their direction and they caught it in their beaks. I looked up, I don't think I ever stopped to appreciate what a beautiful day it was that day. After feeding the ducks we headed back towards our Mom. "Why don't we take a hike on the trail? We haven't done that in a long time." My mom said as throwing away the empty leftover boxes.
"Yeah, that sounds nice. Let's go" I agreed to this because we really haven't gone hiking in a long time. And it is nice to visit nature once in a while. My sister, clearly not as thrilled as the rest of us, agreed and joined us as we started down the trail. She was only two years younger than me but she was picky. As we walked down the trail path, I finally got a chance to appreciate nature.
I've always been a fan of nature and the environment, for some reason. I just think it's amazing how our world could create something so beautiful naturally. As we continued down the path, we smelled the scent of fresh grass in the morning dew. We walked further into the trail and found some small animals thriving around us.
         We continued for a long time and the trail started looking unfamiliar. For all the times I visited the Mountains, I never saw this part of the trail before. I started to get worried and suggested we go back. My mom and my sister agreed and we started heading back, but something caught my eye. A golden beam of light shone angelically through a patch of trees along with a obnoxiously bright green.
         I stopped and was about to turn back to my Mom and sister when curiosity got the best of me. I took a peek through and saw more green. I stuck my head through the patch and gasped. What was beyond the patch was a enormous bright green plain as far as the eye could see. "Hey, Uh- Guys. You better come look at this". They looked back. "What is it, Steph. Not another squirrel, is it?", my sister said sarcastically. They headed towards me and showed them my discovery.
         Their eyes went wide. "Wow." They both said in awe. "How is this even here?" My mom said questionly, "This wasn't on the map.". There was only one thing we could do. We went right through the patch of trees. The sun seemed to shine in all directions. We all admired the sight breathless. "This is- is amazing", I said in astonishment. "What is this place?", my sister said confused. "It's a plain, an enormous one too."
         Just as we were recovering from our awe, we felt a light rumble in the ground. It then got stronger. At first I thought it was an earthquake, but then I heard the sound of a thousands pounding footsteps heading towards us. In the distance I see a herd of mountain goats hurling straight in my direction. My mom and sister look in the same direction. "RUN!" I cried. But me and my sister were already ahead of me. They both ran back to the patch of trees but I was too late.
         The herd was coming too fast. I didn't have enough time to make it back. So all I could do was run straight forward. "STEPHAN RUN!", my mom cried. I ran as fast as I could, but I couldn't outrun the heard of goats, they were too fast. The herd was just behind me and I couldn't run any further. Just then I noticed the ground stopped just in front of me, there was nothing else but air. It was a cliff. I stood just on the edge, almost losing my balance, the herd just feet behind me. And, in an instance, The rock just under my right food broke apart, completely throwing me off balance. I fell completely, full on to the abyss below me, plummeting through the air. I just kept falling down, down, down towards the river below. Down into the black water beneath until there was nothing but darkness.