Post by Maryna Nikol on Feb 3, 2008 10:31:13 GMT -5
Inukshuk
[/b]Icy cold wind lashed at my face, like tiny daggers stabbing me over and over again. I clung onto the red rope, my hands almost frozen to it. I had just discovered a mountain. A mountain bigger than Everest.
I couldn’t stand up. No matter how hard I tried, my black boots kept slipping on the icy surface of the earth. Snow swirled around me, turning my whole world into a swirling mass of white. Inukshuk, my husky companion, stood a few paces away, his gray fur dotted with white. He whimpered and nudged me, his pads and the rope the only things stopping him from plunging down to certain death. I dragged myself up, the rope stiffening. I slid along, pulling myself up the steep hill. Suddenly, the rope began to slip.
This was it. I was going to die.
Slowly, I began to slide backwards, down the hill, towards the cliff. I was blinded by dread. I couldn’t see whether or not Inukshuk was okay, I couldn’t see if there were any handholds to grab onto, all I could see was the cliff that I was sliding closer and closer to.
Two meters away, one meter, half a meter… I shut my eyes, feeling the ice on my eyelashes as they clashed together. Any moment now, I would be falling into nothingness. I felt my feet meet thin air. Then my knees then my hips. Soon I was dangling off of the cliff. My hand was clutched tightly around a frozen rock, the only thing stopping me from plunging into the dark air-and it was slipping.
My hand was only just clinging on… Then, I began to fall. Horrible thoughts flashed through my head at the fastest pace that they never had before. Who would take care of Inukshuk? But I knew he would die out here on his own. What about my family, waiting eagerly for my return, only to find out that I was dead… I felt so stupid. It was such a stupid, stupid mistake. It was leading to my death. If only I had adjusted the rope…
Suddenly, I was jerked out of my thoughts. Something was dragging me up. But who? Then I realized. Inukshuk was saving me.
I didn’t have the strength to help him. I felt bad about that. But he was a muscular, heavyset husky. He would manage-I hoped. In only seconds, my feet met solid ground. But Inukshuk didn’t stop there. He dragged me all the way up the hill I had just slid down. I was surprised, and terrified. We could easily both slip to our doom.
At the top of the hill, the husky collapsed. Him and I lay in the snow for a long time before I clambered, with some difficulty, to my feet. My limbs were stiff and frozen, and I felt as if some one had been whacking me with a sledgehammer. It wasn’t a good feeling. I looked at Inukshuk, whom had clambered to his feet and was looking up at me, his pink tongue lolling out of his mouth. I flung my arms around his neck, hugging him tightly, breathing in his wet-dog scent deeply. But Inukshuk wasn’t only a dog. He was a hero. My hero.
Epilogue
[/b][/u]Maryna Nikol and her faithful companion made it successfully to the top of the mountain, which was indeed taller than Everest. She named it Mount Inukshuk, after the “Dog I wouldn’t have been able to do it without” she says.
I used Maryna's name cause I couldn't think of anything else... Anyways, I hope you liked it! Comments and critics are welcome!