Adele's Stories

I have never been more tired in my whole entire life. I don’t remember whose idea this trip was, but I know for a fact it was not mine. I collapsed onto the grass and stared up at the sky, breathing heavily. Mark’s head appeared above me.

“Are you still alive?” he asked with a smirk. 

“Barely. How much farther is it?” 

Mark looked up and seemed to study the mountainside. “I’d say about another day or so.” Two more groans accompanied mine. It seemed Mira and Josh were just as tired as I was. 

“Remind me why we decided to do this?” I sat up and let Mark pull me to my feet. 

“Something about coming closer together as a family.” Mira gave Mark a pointed look. He just shrugged and smiled. As the oldest Mark took it upon himself to be entirely responsible for the relationships between the four of us. As the middle child I preferred to only talk to my siblings when absolutely necessary. Mira and Josh were just happy to be included. As the youngest two I think they felt left out sometimes. 

“Come on. We still need to find a place to camp before nightfall.” Mark turned and started up. I rolled my eyes but followed and Josh and Mira took up the rear again. We walked in silence as the climb was steep and we were all focused on breathing and not falling down. Mark continued leading us up and up until the sun began to set and the sky turned pink. Finally he stopped. 

“This should do.” He nodded as he looked around. We had stopped at the edge of a cliff overlooking a large body of water. We were surrounded by trees and bushes that should protect us from wind and the cold night air. I hated to admit it, but Mark was right. This was a good place to camp. We all spread out to begin pitching our tents. Mira was finished first and went to look out at the water. I finished second and went to join her. 

“It’s so pretty.” she said. I nodded in agreement. The setting sun had lit up the water with oranges and golds. It was quite beautiful. Suddenly I felt the ground slip out from underneath me and I screamed as I plunged toward the water. I managed to grab onto a root sticking out from the cliff wall. I don’t know how but I did. I think I blacked out for a second. I desperately clung to the root as I screamed for help. My siblings’ worried and frightened faces appeared above me. 

“Hang on Joanna! We’ll get you up!” Mark called to me. Normally I would return with a snappy remark about how hanging on was the only choice I currently had at the moment, but I was too frightened to even open my mouth. I was hanging a bit of a ways down from the top of the cliff but I was still even farther away from the bottom. 

The faces disappeared above me and a few seconds later Mark appeared over the edge, with a rope tied around his waist. Josh and Mira were holding on to the other end and slowly lowering Mark down to me. My arms were starting to ache and I didn’t know how much longer I could hang on for. Just seconds before I feared my arms would give way, Mark reached me. He walked along the cliff wall towards me and then he wrapped his arms around my waist. I slowly let go of the root and put one arm around Mark’s shoulders while I grasped the rope with the other. 

“Pull us up!” Mark called, and Josh and Mira started pulling. We started moving upwards, and it was all I could do not to pass out. My memories of the trip back up are foggy, but I do vividly remember the moment my feet finally touched solid ground again. I collapsed face first onto the grass and bit back tears as I caught my breath. 

I sat up and turned to face Mark. “Thank you.” It was the only words I could muster but he seemed to appreciate them. When we finally settled in for the night, I noticed the others had moved their tents closer to mine. 

In the morning we tore down camp a lot quicker than we set up. Everyone made sure to stay far away from the edge. Mark silently took the lead again and as we were walking I found myself walking beside him. He didn’t say anything and we continued walking in silence. I think we both found comfort just being beside each other. For the first time in our lives. 

Behind us we could hear Josh and Mira keeping up a steady conversation. Suddenly Mira cried out. Mark and I spun around. “What happened?” I asked. Mira was sitting on the ground holding her foot. 

“Oh nothing serious. I just tripped over a rock. I’ll be alright.” she tried to stand but would have fallen over if I hadn’t caught her. 

“You probably sprained it. You should sit down and let me wrap it.” Josh was currently studying to become a physician’s assistant. If he said she was injured we believed him. I helped Mira sit at the base of a tree and Josh took out the first aid kit from his pack. I sat beside Mira as Josh wrapped her ankle, engaging her in conversation to distract her from the serious pain she must be feeling. 

When Josh declared her ankle properly wrapped we helped her to her feet. Mark came into view holding what appeared to be a giant stick. “Here,” he held it out to Mira, “I made you a walking stick. You should probably try to keep from putting any weight on that foot.” Mira smiled and accepted the walking stick gratefully.  

“We’ll all stay with you as we walk. To help you out.” Josh smiled encouragingly at Mira, but I waved him off.   

“You boys go on ahead. I can stay behind with Mira. She’ll only need one of us to lend a hand.” 

“Are you sure?” It took another ten minutes of both me and Mira reassuring Josh before he finally went ahead with Mark. Though I could tell they were purposefully not going too far ahead. Mira and I walked in silence while we could see the boys conversing. 

“What do you think they’re talking about?” Mira gave me a mischievous smile. I glanced at our brothers. 

“They’re boys. Probably something gross.” Mira giggled and I couldn’t help joining her. Time passed quickly as we walked. We were all talking and laughing the way we used to when we were kids. We hadn’t been like this in ages. It was nice. 

Before long the sun was setting again. But Mark urged us to keep going. He crested the next rise and stopped. The rest of us followed and we lined up next to him staring at the horizon in awe. We’d made it. 

We stood with our arms around each other staring at the beautiful view framed by the setting sun. Mark beamed. “Welcome to the Highlands.”