to Dream of Mountians

To Dream of Mountains                                                                                    WORD COUNT 5096




Kingyo sat through the last few hours of class before break, staring out the window at the stark mountains, not even pretending to listen.  His teacher noticed, but didn’t bother to try to get his attention.  At this point in the semester, he thought, it isn’t worth the effort.

The teacher sighed.  I’ve tried so hard to get that boy’s focus on proper things.  All the teachers have; especially the shop teacher where Kingyo had shown special promise.  What had the boy created with his promise?  Instead of something to help the colony, he made mountain climbing equipment!  The shop teacher had talked to him, the Principal talked to him, the boy’s parents talked to him; and here he is the last day of school dreaming; probably over the mountains again.  Maybe his parents could do something with him over break, but the teacher doubted it.

Kingyo didn’t even notice what the class was doing nor had he seen the teacher’s annoyed look.  He had his own plans for break that no one else knew about.  This was the last break before graduation, when he would have to begin to pull his weight in the colony.  He hated life in the colony.  So many stupid rules for the good of the colony!  He fumed a little.  With my luck, he thought I will end up doing something stupid the rest of my life.  This is the last chance to follow my dream, or I never will. 

He planned it carefully for weeks.  He ran his plans over in his mind, until something his teacher said caught his attention momentarily.  Then he drifted into his own thoughts again.

Outside the window, he idly watched the youngers playing in the school yard, leaping and bounding over each other as they played.  That was a favorite game for youngers. As they grew older, they learned how to keep their feet on the ground.  Kingyo knew that people who went to Trench Colony had to go through special strength training and weight training to keep their bones from breaking at the increased weight there.  Trenchers tended to look like youngers when they visited here.  All the t’weens liked to harass the Trenchers; they thought they were big stuff now that they had their ground legs. I wonder how the higher elevations will affect my ground legs, he wondered.

Nah, I’ll be fine; it’s gonna be so cool.  I’ll be the first one.  They’ll have to put my name in the history books, and these stupid teachers that have all given me so much grief, are gonna have to smile and teach those youngers about me!

He smiled remembering the nights he spent working on his equipment.  No one thought it could be done, but he was proving them all wrong. Just wait ‘til they see what I’ve done.  The shop teacher had been surprised at his ingenuity in what he had made in class, but then had scolded—scolded him for not applying that ingenuity to something useful!  The shop teacher, the principal, his parents, and everyone; they would see just how useful what he had made really was.  Just you wait!

Kingyo was so wrapped up in his own thoughts he actually missed the teacher’s closing statements.  He was startled when his friend, Taku suddenly thrust his face in front of Kingyo’s. 

“Hey Kingyo!  You asleep!”

Kingyo nearly fell off his chair. “Don’t do that!  You know I hate it when you do that!”

Taku snickered.  “I know.  That’s why it’s so much fun.”

Kingyo threw his stuff in his bag.  “Never mind.  Come on, let’s go.”  He stalked out of the room, leaving Taku to stumble after him.

“Oh, come, on!  Kingyo!  Wait!”

Once outside, they met up with the rest of the guys.  “Hey, Kingyo!  What’s this I hear that you’re not going camping with us?  We’ve planned this for ages.”

“Yeah!” interjected Nettai’, “These guys won’t do much if you’re not there to push them into it.  You know they don’t listen to me.”

“You see!” said Taku.  “You have to come!”

“I know, I know!  It’s some family thing my mom’s come up with.  You guys know what that’s like!”  There was a semi-unified groan; they did indeed know what moms were like.  Kingyo kicked at a rock, as if in disappointment; they all watched the grayish sand reform around it. 

Some of the youngers came flipping through.  “Hey, watch it!” groused Taku, and one of them flipped backwards for a moment to make a face.  “Stupid youngers.”  Everyone else just stood there, not quite knowing what to say.

“Well,” said Kingyo after a moment, “I hope you guys have fun.  I’ll see ya around.”  He sauntered off, satchel over his shoulder, laughing to himself, but keeping a composed look on his face.  Step one down.  Now if no one complained to their parents, step two was a given.

Home wasn’t far, and he hoped he would have the house to himself for a while.  Both his parents would still be at work, and if his little sister was still out playing, he would be in the clear to set his plan in motion.

He was in luck; he saw his little sister, Sakana, playing with her best friend before he got home.  She saw him, and called out to him.  “Big Brother!”

He stopped.  “Yeah, what do you want, brat?”

She made a face.  “Tell Mom I’m eating with Ningyo.”

He waved acknowledgement and went on.  As he expected, all was quiet.
         
After changing out of his uniform, Kingyo headed to the shed where he had his equipment hidden.  A few last adjustments and safety checks wouldn’t take long.

Carefully, he unearthed his treasure.  He had created an actual unit that covered his whole head and attached to a suit, just like the ones on the speculative vids.  He salvaged a pump from a home cooler unit that didn’t cool anymore, but would still circulate, so he could breathe.  He tested the whole thing out at over a fifteen hour reserve, so once he put it on, he should have plenty of time to reach the top and still get back down to a more breathable area.

He felt sure that he could climb most of the way before he would need it.  He had made it part way before, and had established a solid trail and set up some of his equipment already. There was a lot further to go than that, but he had been stopped before he could set his trail any more.  That was all before the school had clued his parents in on what he was doing.

It was the special walking stick that had done it.  He couldn’t think of a good enough explanation fast enough, and the shop teacher had seen his real design sheet before he could hide it.

Actually, he had been pretty proud of it.  It was made in three sections that fit inside of each other so it was easy to carry on his belt when he didn’t need it.  The bottom section was like a claw, and would dig in to help him climb in steep areas.  The principal didn’t want to give it back to him at first.  He thought Kingyo was going to use it as a weapon.

It was an outrage that his parents weren’t willing to hear his side or to consider how important his dreams were to him; now he felt no remorse about the decision to deceive them.  After all, they had betrayed him.

So he promised to forget all about it.  Since they couldn’t see how important it was to him, it was easy to make them think he had forgotten all about it.  The tricky part was to get them to give him back his walking stick.  He just lately convinced his dad he only wanted it to go on this so-called camping trip.

Now he had put all of that out of his mind.  The first few pages of his personal notebook were filled with his thoughts about that.  Once he made the decision to do this, he let all of his anger and hurt go.  The only thing that mattered was the climb.

He packed all of the equipment, plus his camping gear, and set the pack outside the back door.  Then he went to his room to get his personal notebook. I want to make sure I record everything about this trip. Stuffing it in his back pocket, he paused.  Sitting down at his desk, he sat for a moment, then pulled out a pad.

Dear Mom and Dad, he wrote,

If you are reading this, it means you have found out that I didn’t go camping with my friends.  I went to climb Mt. Harraka.  Nobody’s ever done it before, but I know I can. It will be all right.  Just look in my project notebook and you’ll know I can, too.  I’ll be back soon.  Don’t worry.
Kingyo

He sealed it in an envelope, wrote Mom and Dad on it, and placed it inside his project notebook with Mom showing.  He laid the book on his desk in plain sight, but off to one side, so that someone wouldn’t be as likely to pick it up by accident.

He still had a few minutes before his Mom got home; to keep her from coming into his room, he kicked the dirty clothes under the bed, and clumsily pulled the covers up.  He carried the dirty dishes and trash downstairs, and still had time to fix a quick snack before he heard her at the front. 

“Hey Mom!  I picked up my room,” by now he was talking through his food, “Sakana’s eating with Ningyo, and I’m leaving now.  See ya later!” 

By the time his mom got all the way in there, he was out the door and she could see his back as he headed off.  She shook her head at the mess of dishes, and snack paraphernalia.  “Oh, Kingyo.”

He set off at a good steady pace designed to cover ground quickly.  He cut through a back path that was rarely used, and felt good about his freedom for the moment.  It bubbled up inside him, lifting his spirits.  I’m going to do it!  There’s nothing to stop me now!  He laughed out loud and in his exuberance, almost lost his ground legs.  He laughed again, this time at himself, and settling his equipment more securely, steadied his pace.

The wildlife seemed to be as cheerful as he was.  There were silver dolbes darting around on his left, playing hide and seek, and two sleek ahjions were chasing each other in the distance. It’s a beautiful world.  I know our colony is still struggling, but I don’t see why I can’t enjoy this world as well as work.  It just doesn’t seem fair. Others do things they enjoy.  They just want to keep me from climbing mountains.

He planned on making as much distance across the basin as he could before he slept.  All the time he had spent in exercise was paying off.  He was nearing the base of Mt. Harraka more quickly than he expected.  That was good.  Sometime tomorrow his ruse would probably be discovered, and the further toward his goal he was, the more likely he would be able to achieve it. 

No one thinks my dreams are important.  But they are, and I will be too, when I show them it can be done.

He pushed himself, and to his delight, not only did he make it to the base of Mt. Harraka before he slept, he hiked another half hour up the side of it before he stopped and settled in to rest.  He ate the supper he brought, and was sound asleep almost as soon as he finished.  He didn’t have time to speculate about what his friends and family were doing.

The guys all got together at Taku’s late that night after Nettai’ got off work.  “It just won’t be as much fun to go camping without Kingyo,” said one.  “Why don’t we put it off to next weekend when he can go?”

“That sounds good to me,” said another.

“Yeah, my boss wasn’t happy about letting me off tomorrow anyway.  He tried to talk me into us putting it off a week.”  Nettai’ stretched.  “He insisted I come in for an hour before we left anyway.  If we put it off, maybe he’ll finally give me that raise.”

Taku nodded.  “That settles it.  I’ll go give him the good news tomorrow.  I’m sure his mom won’t take off very early.  They always leave ages later than they mean to because she has too many things still to do.”

They goofed off for a while, and Taku watched a vid after they left.  He still wasn’t sleepy, so he watched another, and finally in the middle of the third one, drifted off into his own dreams.
                                       
Kingyo woke much earlier than usual, without dreaming for once, and was eager to get started up the mountain.  It didn’t take long to eat and he resettled his gear on his back.  To his surprise, he wasn’t a bit sore.  Well, I have been working out, but I thought sleeping on the ground might still do it. He wondered if sheer adrenaline could be the difference.  “I am so into this!” he shouted, and startled some dolbes.  He laughed aloud at their crazy flight.  Go, you silly things!  Enjoy your freedom!  I’m right behind you!

This was better than he dreamed although his expectation had been pretty high.  He laughed again, and started to climb.

It was getting steeper.  He was beginning to have to use his climbing gear in some places to keep his speed up.  Climbing like this would be easier in teams, he thought.  Sometimes I wish I could find somebody else to climb with.  Maybe when I show people it can be done, some of the guys will be willing to come. Maybe Nettai’; he would be the best at it, although Taku would want to. Then he laughed, thinking of Taku trying to climb with him.  He’s a great guy, but he’d never make it!  He likes to sleep too much!

Taku was sleeping even then.  It was sometime later in the day when he blearily opened one eye and groaned.  He covered up his head and turned over, intending to go back to sleep, when he suddenly remembered, “Kingyo!”  He sat straight up and groaned again, this time when he saw the chronometer.  It was already late in the afternoon.  “Oh,…” he started to shout, and then stuffed his hands in his mouth before the next word came out, remembering his mom was home.

Hastily he dressed, but it seemed to take twice as long as usual.  He couldn’t seem to get his fingers to work right, and he ended up tripping over his bed. He finally made it, grabbing something to eat as he dashed out.  It was a short trek to Kingyo’s, and to his relief, the family was still at home.  He hurried to the front door.

Kingyo’s mother opened it, pleasantly.  “Taku!  Are you guys back already?  Where’s Kingyo?”

He only half heard her.  His prepared statement came out before it sank in what she said.  “I came to tell him we’re not going ‘til next weekend so he can go.”

She looked puzzled.  “What are you talking about?  He left yesterday to go meet you as I got home from work.”

A sudden dread hit him, but he didn’t want to worry her yet.  “We didn’t go.  Are you sure he’s not in his room?”  He almost pushed by her, leading the way to Kingyo’s room, but hesitated, waiting for her at the door. 

“Didn’t he stay with you last night?  I really don’t think he’s here,” she said, pushing it open.  “I suppose he could be in his workroom without me knowing it.”

Taku entered Kingyo’s room with fear in his heart.  He could see the project book on Kingyo’s desk and knew he wasn’t in the workroom.  Slowly he went to the desk, and picked up the book.  The letter fell out.

“What’s that, Taku?”

He picked it up and looked at it.  “It’s for you.”  Reluctantly, he handed it to Kingyo’s mom and opened the project book that Kingyo had refused to let him look at for months.  His fears grew as he looked at the designs for the breathing apparatus and the other gear Kingyo made for this one trip.  He could barely make out the scrawl at the bottom of the last page, not realizing that it was his own tears making it hard to read:  This is gonna be great! 

He dropped the book when his friend’s mom cried out, and struggled to catch her as she fell.  Kingyo, he thought, sometimes you are such a jerk!

He hoped his friend was all right.                                                  

Kingyo no longer wondered if they had discovered what he had done, or the possibility that someone might be on their way to stop him.  He climbed all day, with one break to eat.  While he ate, he wrote in his notebook, since he had neglected it before he slept, but he was too excited to write long.  The more he climbed, the more the top seemed to call to him.  His focus was completely on reaching the top. 

His energy level was higher than when he and his friends camped in the basin.  Kingyo vaguely noted the difference, and wondered if the atmosphere was already affecting him.  He had no trouble breathing, so he decided not to break out his breathing apparatus yet.  It seemed to him that the difference was more of a help at this point, anyway.

It was still mostly boulders and slopes, although it was getting steeper.  He paused and took pictures here and there.  At this point, the scenery didn’t change much, so he was soon back on his way. I can’t wait to show the guys all the pictures I’m taking, he thought.  They ought to see this.

Down in the basin, Taku and the rest of Kingyo’s friends were assigned to look for him in all the places they normally camped.  The men were all headed straight for the mountain base.  Taku went to Nettai’s dad, Nettaiyo.  “Please, let me go with you to Mt. Harraka.”

He could see it was important to Taku, and discussed it with the other men, but they refused, saying it was just as important to check the basin, since it was still a possibility Kingyo wouldn’t really try to climb by himself.  Taku knew better, but there was no way to convince the elders of that.  Taku's heart fell, fearing he would never see his friend again.

Kingyo climbed until late.  He sat up his camp and ate, but tonight he wasn’t able to go right off to sleep. He prepared his equipment for the morrow, laying out everything, and examining his breathing apparatus one more time.  He was getting close, and wanted to make sure that there would be no problems at the last minute. 

Weary as he was, sleep was difficult.  The last hour or so of climbing, it was harder to keep his ground legs, and the temperature was uncomfortable, so he felt exhausted. Still, he was too excited to think about sleeping.  He pulled out his notebook and wrote for a while; he didn’t want to ever forget how he felt, or what he had seen and done that day. It was best to get it all down while it was fresh in his mind.

He sat on a boulder for a long time. This was so much farther than he had ever been before, and he could hardly contain his exhilaration.  This is so, so, …  He couldn’t think of a word to describe how he felt.  He sat there, just experiencing the feeling and gazing out until he finally relaxed enough to go rest.  He lay for a long time without sleeping, listening and watching everything around him. 

He awoke early, stiff, but he soon stretched out.  Although he hadn’t slept long, it didn’t seem to matter; he felt as refreshed and energetic as he always did, if not more. He ate quickly.  Soon he would be close enough to need it, so he went ahead and donned his breathing gear, but carrying the helmet, he started out, leaving his camp set up.  Now, all he carried was just what was necessary to make the climb. 

It was a lot harder to climb here, with steep cliffs; now he had to rely on his equipment to climb with.  The wildlife was more abundant, but he paid them no mind.  He could look at those on the way back.  Right now the only important thing was to climb, and to reach the top. 

After a couple hours, he was beginning to feel miserable.  The climb itself was harder than he expected, and the temperature was not at all to his liking. He finally put on the helmet, and it seemed to help, except with the temperature.  Version two gets a temperature gage, he thought, and some way to adjust it in the suit.  I can’t believe this! This is so stupid, but I’m not going to let a little thing like this stop me. 

He refused to think about the possibility that extreme temperature could hurt him.  After all, he was stronger than that.

It was getting brighter out; now it seemed as he rested that he thought he could see the top.  He took renewed hold of his determination, and started again.

Far below him, the men had gotten part of the way up the mountain with their vehicles.  When they had been forced to leave those, they had continued traveled all night, carrying lights.  It was difficult, but Kingyo had established a clear trail, and left permanent climbing aids in the hard parts. 

The shop teacher found the first one.  “Over here!”

“What did you find?”

“Kingyo made these in shop.  He told me he was making new stakes for their camping gear.”  He half laughed.  “I guess I should have known better.”  He pointed up the slope.  “He’s used these to help him climb.  I’m not sure I can do it even with their help.”

Nettai’s dad touched it.  “What are these loops at the end?”

The shop teacher shrugged.  “I asked the same thing.  He said rope, but how can we know for sure?

Nettaiyo measured the loop with his fingers.  “That may well be true,” he said.  “Nettai’s told me how smart Kingyo is.  I can see it from this.  Somebody get me a rope.  There’s one in the back of my rover.”

The men watched as Nettaiyo carefully pulled himself up the slope, using Kingyo’s stakes.  Then he carefully tied the end of his rope in the loop and dropped the other end down to the others.  “Here,” he called, “and bring more rope if there is any!”

Kingyo’s dad was both proud and amazed at what his son had accomplished.  It also terrified him.  If it hadn’t been for that, the men would not have made it, even working together.

Several of the men had to drop out.  They stopped at the point they could go no farther, but refused to go back.  The others struggled on, hoping to find Kingyo soon.  At one forced rest stop, the shop teacher described the walking stick Kingyo had made in class.  Nettaiyo was further impressed, but laughed with the others when the shop teacher moaned, “I wish I had it right now!”

When they finally found Kingyo’s base camp, it was near the middle of the day, but with their equipment, they could go no farther.  All they could do now was rest, and hope that he returned.  Nettaiyo found Kingyo’s notebook and took it to his dad.

“When your son graduates, send him to talk to me,” he said, as he passed it on to Kingyo's dad.  “He could go a long way in my section, and I think he would be happy there.”

Kingyo’s dad looked up from the notebook.  “Will he graduate?” he asked.

“Of course.  He is a smart young man.”  Nettaiyo patted the other man on his shoulder and left him.  Kingyo’s father found the same boulder his son had used the night before and sat apart from the rest, reading his son’s notebook over and over and gazing up the mountain, waiting and hoping to see his son soon.

Kingyo saved a last burst of energy to reach the ridge he had been aiming for, and pulled himself up on it.  He lay there, panting, wanting to look out, but not yet ready to move.  After a while he pushed up, and realized to his shock that what he thought was the top was the beginning of another gentle slope.  He groaned.

He looked at his chronoscope and saw he had another eleven or so hours of breathable atmosphere left.  He looked down over the ridge and considered calling it quits.  No one’s ever come this far.  If I plant my standard here, I’ll still have won my point.  That should mean that someday I could come back and finish.  This view is amazing. 

He could barely see the basin far below him.  Still the beauty of what he saw took his breath.  It was a shame there was no one else here to see it.  He laughed out in joy, but it sounded odd in the helmet, which made him laugh again.

I really should stop here.  I don’t know enough about what is beyond this point.  It would be foolish to go on without more preparation.  I should have a temperature gage.  I should have more reserve breathing time.  I’ve already proven you can climb to the height we knew about, and proven that there is more to learn.  That’s enough for this trip. I’m not prepared to go any farther.

That was smart.  He knew it was the right decision.  It was the only decision.

He took a few pictures, and dangled his legs over the edge, preparing to start his climb down.  Then he took one last look at the gentle slope behind him.

Suddenly, he stood, and pulling his standard from the ground, headed up the slope.  I’ll just go part of the way.  I’ve got time.

He hadn’t gone far when the first gust hit him, nearly knocking him off his feet.  He regained his balance and kept on.  It made him angry.  This...will...not...beat me!

Every step was an effort, but each one made him more determined. The standard was torn from his hand, but he only struggled on.  He would make it.  He was going to the top, no matter what! 

Everything around him grew brighter, and suddenly he realized that he was actually nearing the top layers of the atmosphere.  Was this even possible?  He couldn’t remember anything like this being discussed at school. He liked science, at least when it covered things that he could see might have something to do with climbing mountains.  He had to know for sure.

Kingyo found it harder and harder to move as he slowly breached the top of the atmosphere.  It was almost as if the atmosphere itself was trying to hold him back, but now he was again determined to reach the top. As he broke through the atmosphere, his first impression was of noise.  It was a constant roaring sound that he couldn’t describe with occasional sharp high-pitched cries.  How can there be sound with no atmosphere?  Is it the lack of atmosphere against my helmet that I’m hearing as sound?

At first all he could see was the extreme intensity of the light.  As his eyes began to adjust, he noticed the beauty of the sky.  What color!  He never expected that—the glittering white with sparkles, the rich blue. He could scarcely see anything.  He continued to stagger forward out of the last of the atmosphere, still trying to focus his eyes through the brightness, it seemed to both shove him forward and pull him back.  It was all he could do to keep from falling.

It was so hot! The temperature was now overwhelming.  Just the heat was enough to keep him from thinking clearly.  He was panting as he struggled forward, and the sand under his feet seemed to be moving.  It made him dizzy.  It was hard to keep his balance as he stumbled a few more steps.  He fell to his knees on the brown sand and then collapsed.  He began to fade out; then he thought he saw people running toward him and tried to focus on that—but that was impossible! How could there be people here?  I’m the first!  I have to be!  What are they saying?  They sound so strange.  How am I imagining such strangeness?

“Who is it?” screamed a woman. 

“Is it an astronaut?” shouted a man.  Kingyo almost felt their voices through his helmet rather than hearing them.  This has to be a dream.

The woman screamed again.  “Look, his helmet is full of water!  He’s drowning!  Somebody get it off him!”

Hands began to paw at him—I must be delirious—they can’t be real—their fingers are so stumpy with no beautiful webbing between.  They began to pull at his helmet; they were taking away his air!

As his helmet fell away in spite of his best efforts to hold on to it, Kingyo began to gasp in earnest and tried to crawl toward the welcoming atmosphere.  There must be something wrong with his eyes!  It seemed to run away, then come back.  He struggled to his knees, and further, trying to run to it.

“Where is he going?” cried out the woman.  “He must be hallucinating!”

“Hold him!”  One of the men grabbed his arm as he stumbled.  “If he falls back in the water, he will drown!”  Several others reached in to help.  Kingyo tried to pull away, to get to the atmosphere, and grew panicky.

Those strange hands were holding on to him, pulling him back.  He no longer had enough strength to pull away.  Everything grew red around the edges of his vision and then went black.  His last thought was, So is this why they didn’t want me to climb?…


Japanese words used as names:
Kingyo--goldfish
Nettai'--tropics
Ningyo--mermaid
Sakana--fish
Taku--home