There is no Going Back

"These credits are unnaturalley long"

"Shut up, Heather!"

"Is there going to be an after-credit scene like in the Avengers?"

"For God's sake Heather keep quiet!"

"Did that say Gaffer? What on earth is a Gaffer?"

"You are dead to me Heather"

While I waited by the car, Heather refilled her popcorn. I rubbed my head with my fingers. Heather was the worst movie companion. She had endless questions all throughout the film and simply 'had to pee' at least four times. Alas, she was my best friend and the only other person who would consent to the midnight premiere of The Hobbit with me. It was totally worth the Heather experience.

With fresh hot popcorn in hand Heather accompanied me in the mild drizzle that is winter in the South.

"Why can't it snow and be lovely like in the old films Sarah?"

"Because of greenhouse gases and such, can we go now?"

"You were the one that wanted to see the movie so badly!"

I rolled my eyes and retaliated, "Yeah but I don't take thirty minutes to leave once the movie is over!"

Heather smiled and chuckled at me. She really is a fantastic friend. We had only been friends since freshmen year of highschool, but we didn't need a super long friendship history to make ours special. Heather was new to the area and somewhat shy, I was eager to make a new friend since my only other two friends, in a horrifying coincidence, moved to a seperate state. Thus our friendship blossomed over equal social insecurity.

On the car ride to our 'college house' I tipped my seat back and closed my eyes. Why was I so tired?

"So my birthday is coming up"

I smiled and whispered, "Oh no, not the dreaded twentieth birthday! Oh woe is me, that thee should be burdened by such fate as time. La, I believe I can see the crow scratching at your eyes at this very moment!"

She frowned at me and said "You should take me seriously! I know twenty isn't old but niether of us have thought about what direction to go! We have one more semester of basics and then we have to pick the path that will determine the rest of our lives!"

We had this conversation many times before. It usually ended with me making the point that while college is a good compass it doesn't neccessarily mean that our life is meant to head that way. In other words 'shit happens'. However, I had recently been worrying about it as well. As much as I would love to major in art I couldn't see how it would help me financially. I just wanted to draw. Pencil and paper. Teachers wanted me to take that into computers, and as much as I loved my graphic design classes it didn't replace my love for lead on sheet. Unfortunatley that is not much a future.

Heather noticed that I didn't start my 'shit happens' speel, and realized that I was in fact concerned. She twirled her white-blond hair between her fingers and the suddenly pulled over and turned the car around.

I sat up suddenly.

"What the hell are you doing?!"

"Let's go to Pete's Peak!"

"Are you serious? It's three thirty in the morning! Witching hour and ...stuff!"

"Come on! We haven't been there since before college picked up again!"

"Yeah, because it got cold and windy and unbearable!"

"Stop whining, I'm driving so it's happening!"

None of my protestations were having any effect so I gave up and steamed. Heather with her stupid blonde-hair, blue-eyed, porcelain skinned self, and our shared vehicle. Gah.

Eventually we arrived and the park where the bottom of Pete's Peak trail was. Yes I know that the name of this natural park is suggestive and there are several jokes to be made, but it is a beautiful climb to the top of a small but lovely peak. At first I was determined to stay in the car, but the drizzle had since stopped and the the clouds seemed to have moved past the area. It did seem like a fun idea now.

I gave Heather my 'I surrender' look and pulled my red hair into a ponytail. We walked to the start of the half-mile trail to the top and grinned at each other. Heather then pushed me back slightly and started running. All while laughing and screaming, "race you to the top!".

The trail is lit, if you are worried about safety, but the drizzle from earlier had made something of a low lying fog which made the trail look eerie and otherworldly. Goodness knows, I should have taken it as a sign.

So we raced up the trail, Heather very much ahead of me since she was the athletic one and I was the naturally bony, slightly sickly looking couch-potato. By the time we reached the top I was completley out of breath and holding the inevitable cramp that wedged itself between my ribs and my pancreas. This is where the story gets interesting.

The peak overhangs a largish pond, but the drop is 137ft according to the brochure. So it rather stupid to fall. That would be something an idiot would do. An idiot who agreed to come running up a miniature mountain at four in the morning with a beautiful athletic friend who is supposed to catch you if, you know, you lose your balance because you are not particularly athletic and your legs feel like jelly.

I suppose you get the gist of what happend. I fell off the peak, and the last thing I saw was the astonishment/terror that was in Heather's blue eyes as she reached out to catch me. I fell, and I expected to hit the cold murky waters of the pond below. But instead I fell through a white light sprinkled and ribboned with neon jets of gold, whilst an invisible source softly whispered an old and beautiful lullaby.