7. mountain

My foot lands on another frozen step, the spikes in my boots penetrate through the thick plane of ice.
Tiny splinters run throughout the ground and I feel trembles beneath me.
Hastily, I walk ahead.
Every second the silence is sliced by the sound of my footsteps.
Each one sounding the same, like a tiny explosion,
which is soon put out by the gushing winds from my breath.
They get louder and louder from the wicked cold which attacks my lungs as the altitude rises.
I look up, hoping that I have reached the summit but a looming fog rises above and all that faces my vision is a vast white canvas masked by a translucent air.
I carry on; my determination rises despite the decrease in oxygen.
My foot slips and my heart freezes for a second, matching the temperature in the air.
The wind knocks me around like a leaf but I persevere.
Flecks of ice cold snow land on my face, the start to sizzle from the heat in my body.
As i climb highter and highter, the view seem clearer. I stop, hold tight, and look around me.
I am now surrounded by aspen trees whose leaves are the deep orange-gold of autumn.
They have the earmarks of having a party; the mountain is their home, the snow, their beverage.
Aside from the leaves, the nature is slumbering, no animals encompassing, only the eagle who has been circling above me for now hours.
As peaceful as it could seem, it is getting cold.
Soon, the brownish chalets I could see, are disappearing.
I’m reaching the top, everything vanishes.
My mind is blank but yet so full.
The last lukewarm rays of sun caress my benumb face.
I pick up some branches, build a fire and rapidly the area becomes brighter.
Weirdly, wildflowers are abundant here. The eagle has gone, it’s calm.
Maybe i will just sit down here.. for a while.