Angel's Landing

"I can't go on!"

Louise was panting, hunched, her hands gripping her walking poles.

This was going to kill her.

She should have stayed at the bottom and looked after the bags, in the majesty of the burnt bright walls of Zion. But she'd lost a lot of weight and worked on her fitness so that she could join Steve on his adventure, like the dutiful partner she was. And she did want to stand on one of the most iconic places on Instagram and say that she'd done it.

But she had vastly overestimated her fitness and her determination and now, she was ready to give in.

Steve looked back at Louise and hid his annoyance. Bloody woman! She would insist on coming! When he'd said that he wanted to climb to Angel's Landing, he hadn't expected her to do it with him! He would have been quite happy if she'd said that she'd wanted to savour the atmosphere of the place, in its immensity, and look after the bags. But no, out of some sense of duty, she had decided to follow.

And now, she was hindering his dream.

He first saw Zion in a National Geographic as a child and had harboured a yearning to be here ever since. He'd torn out the picture and stuck it to his wall, gazing at it every day, its allure tempting him into thinking of the day he would stand and survey the canyon.

It was his obsession.

Steve was not known for his temper but if a colour could have been used to described the fury he felt at that moment, it would have been the same fiery red as the rock around him.

He was going to complete this.

He turned to face Louise. She looked so pathetic with her headband and her stupid sticks. He walked back to her.

They were on their own.

"Here! Grab my hand!"

Louise leant forward, poles in her other hand and he grabbed her and yanked her. But her hand slipped and her arms flailed, poles strewn and she windmilled desperately, panicked.

And then she was gone.

Steve looked around.

No-one.

And continued on to Angel's Landing.

***

366 Words

I have been to Zion National Park in Utah but I did not climb to Angel's Landing. My husband wanted to but it was very hot and my kids weren't willing so we walked to a canyon overlook instead which was pretty spectacular anyway.

I would have been Louise, maybe not with a headband and sticks but puffing and blowing and holding my husband back.

It's unlikely that Steve and Louise would be there on their own. It's unlikely that Steve would have left Louise so easily and not been upset but it's just a story, isn't it?

And today this is 36/366 which is the best number combo so far.

This is my stacked summary of everything I wrote last week with everything that I wrote in the previous three weeks:

Week 5's summary will be out later today.

Thanks for stopping by! If you do read it please do leave a comment as I love to interact with my readers.

36/366