The following short story is one I wrote about six months ago. What weighed heavily on my mind at the time of writing this was my relationship with my siblings. Now, I come from a very large family (I'm the fifth of eight kids), so it's not exactly the same situation as the two characters of this story, who are the only kids in their family. However, the overarching theme of this story is sibling love. And that type of bond remains consistent no matter how big your family. In fact, you may even have someone that you call brother or sister who isn't related by blood. In any case, I feel as though this story may be one that a lot of people can relate to. While we may fight and bicker to no end with the ones we love, at the end of the day there is nothing we wouldn't do for them. So over the next few weeks, please enjoy Jeoffard's Peak!
Jeoffard's Peak
“Ya know, we could’ve had more daylight ahead of us if you didn’t spend all that time looking for your diva boots there, Ms. Lopez” Mariah playfully jabbed at her brother, “we’re on a hike, not the runway.”
“Shut up!” Aiden snarled back, rolling his eyes, “dad got me these specifically for hiking. What am I supposed to do, wear my Nike’s?”
“Yeah well, too bad the sun didn’t wait for you to get the perfect outfit together”
“Would you relax? We’ve got plenty of time to make it to the peak and back before sundown”
“Well just in case the all-knowing 'Master Aiden' is somehow wrong about that, I have these” she sarcastically retorted as she revealed two flashlights from her backpack.
Aiden let out a defeated sigh and a half smile and turned away as if to not let her see that he knew she was actually being smart.
He was secretly proud of his sister. In a lot of ways –most ways, she reminded him of their mother. He felt bad for Mariah that she never really had the chance to know her mother, the woman with whom she shared so much. She was only five years old when she passed. Not nearly old enough, he thought, to grasp their mom’s essence. Not that his own ten years was enough to make him an expert, but it became clear to him by how often Mariah would ask about her mother, how tragically little she remembered of her. He remembered his mom’s laugh, her constantly cheerful demeanor, her undying wit, and her ability to somehow always smile. He felt guilty that he could look at a family photograph and discern the time and place, the happy moments; yet all she could see was a dark haired woman with a smile on her face.
These siblings were never really the type to have deep talks, or confess their feelings to each other like everyone does on TV. Instead, whether they’d admit it to each other or not, they grew strong through physical activities like running, soccer, biking, and things of that nature; but hiking was their favorite. The very nature of the activity was therapeutic, especially on the unmapped trails that Aiden and Mariah greatly preferred, much to their father’s displeasure. The impossibility of running into other hikers would seem as a hazard for most people, but to this daring duo it was more of a security than a danger.
“Woahhh, check it out. I bet these are wolf tracks!” Mariah exclaimed as she bent down to examine the stamped earth beneath her.
“Hmm, maybe. I’ve never heard of them coming this far south. It's probably just a dog."
“You're clearly to trying keep me from finding a wolf and taming it in order to make it a house pet slash best friend.”
“I highly doubt that would go over the way you want it to. You know what’d happen when–and not if, but when– you forgot to feed it?”
“Ugh, whatever. You’ve gotta admit though. It would be pretty awesome.”
After a slight pause just as Mariah was about ready to forfeit the topic, but then Aiden agreed “Yeah, you're right. It would be pretty sweet to have a wolf on your side. We’d never have to worry about the house being broken into!”
“Ooo, do you think they make ‘BEWARE OF WOLF’ signs?"
"Ha, I'm sure they do, kiddo" he chuckled at his sister's enthusiasm.
"Eh. I can just make us one anyway–hey, what's that?" Mariah pointed off into the distance trying to make out the shape of the anomaly which was a great deal down the mountain trail and into the forest.
"What are you talking about?"
"Look, there! No, more to your right–no, back more to your left. A little more- NO OTHER LEFT. OH MY GOD YOU'RE ACTUALLY BLIND"
"WHERE DO YOU WANT ME TO LOO- Ohhhhhhhhhhh, I see"
Mariah breathed an annoyed sigh and rolled her eyes, "And yet you're supposed to be graduating this year. How comforted I feel that this is the future of our society."
"Ugh, whatever," the bumbling teen struggled to gain focus on the distant object which glistened in the sunlight reflecting a glare back at them, "what do you think it is?"
"No idea. Let's check it out!" At a suddenly quickened pace, which caught her older brother off guard, the intrigued adventurer began to sprint down the steep trail.
"Mariah be care- awwwhhh hell. Wait up!" The watchful brother realized how futile his attempts to slow down his sister were and instead gave into the reality that he just had to catch up.
Down the path they both moved, Mariah leading the charge as her brother yelled cautions while trying to catch up to her. Of the two, Aiden was the more seasoned hiker; experienced enough to know that each step down a mountain must be calculated and careful. Mariah did not take the same precautions. She, on the other hand, allowed her intrigue to be her clairvoyant and her excitement to guide her as she sped down the path without hesitation.
Aiden took note of this.
"Mariah! Slow down!"
He had hardly gotten the words out before he noticed her beginning to falter. It seemed to look as though she merely lost her balance and was quickly regaining it.
Then he saw her slender arms flail into the air, but the rest of her body tumbled in the opposite direction.
As if someone had yanked a rug out from under her feet, Mariah hastily met the ground and began to tumble off the side of the path down the jagged hill, and her body became a rag doll as she crashed and smashed into the terrain.
END PART 1
