Falling Down

The Prompt

Write a crime fiction story.

The music is "Falling Down" by Oasis

Falling Down

The rope had snapped.

He was sure he knew who had done it, but now he was hurtling towards almost certain death.

He had been encouraged to do the climb and assured that all the equipment was in good repair and he would be totally safe, but he was not, and soon he would probably be a bloody mess at the bottom of a ravine on some rock floor.

He loved mountain climbing, and he knew the risks, but this was a difficult one that not many attempted, although there had never been any accidents. Until now ....

His partner and their friends had encouraged him to to this, but he was not too sure why. Yes, they knew he had thought about it, and yes, they knew it was dangerous, but they had not really bothered about his love of climbing until this came up.

Because they encouraged him, he followed his desire and planned the climb, it would have been criminal in his mind not to do it, but now he thought that some criminal had cut part of the way through the rope so that under his weight it finally gave way and snapped.

He was falling.

His partner had tied the rope and secured it, then he went over the edge and started the downward climb, knowing that he had the safety of the rope if he slipped, which he often did on climbs, but that was part of the thill, falling until the safety rope pulled you back, but this time the rope came with him.

That was another thing, he and his partner believed they were immortal (doesn't everybody?) so had no insurance to cover any form of mishap like this. He laughed that he considered death a mishap. It was amazing how much went through his mind as the ground came closer.

Eventually, he hit, becoming a red mess on a ravine floor.

✝️✝️✝️✝️✝️✝️✝️✝️✝️✝️✝️✝️✝️✝️✝️✝️✝️✝️✝️

On the ledge, his partner and friends looked in absolute horror.

They saw the rope break and his plunge to the floor of the ravine at the bottom of this mountain slope, eventually becoming a red stain hundreds of feet below.

They were in total shock, silent. They didn't what to say.

What the hell happened?

They checked all the equipment and rope before leaving. The ropes were double-checked. They then started to eye each other with suspicion. Did one of them have it in for him?

Was one of them a murderer? If so why?

They all loved and looked out for each other.

They then pulled the remaining rope up, to see what had happened, if it was frayed or cut. They were shocked at what they saw.

The end looked as though it had been chewed!!

What the hell?

They opened up the canvas rope case and saw fragments of rope, sawdust and straw. Something had been living in the case and had chewed through the rope. Whatever the rodent was, it was long gone now.

There was a huge sense of relief and they hugged each other.

The murderer was a rat or something, but it was unlikely that it would be caught, and when all came to all it was just a rat being a rat, not a nefarious despicable murderer.

The police and emergency services would have to be informed, and a funeral and wake planned. They all felt awful but tried to comfort each other, the best they could.

This was not a good day for anyone.

This group of friends was now smaller.