Chasing Infinity
Prompt: A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words: Camping Summer Edition (500)
Date: July 2023
The road was uneven, the sky a thick velvet curtain, starless in the early hour, brimming at the edge of dawn.
"The sun is coming," I whispered, a note of urgency in my voice as I glanced up at the sky.
"We'll make it," Edward answered confidently. His foot pressed harder on the gas pedal though, and I leaned back at the sudden jerk of acceleration.
…
Six months ago, this trip had been a joke, a drunken scheme cooked up at two in the morning as Edward and I curled up in a hammock in our friend's yard. It had been far too cold to be outside, being that it was December, but we were burning with alcohol, and wrapped in blankets as well as each other's arms.
"What do you think the world looks like from the tops of mountains?" I had asked, my voice sleepy as my eyes blinked up at the bright, twinkling stars.
Edward hummed under me, and it tickled my cheek.
"I bet it looks like infinity," he said quietly, one of his hands lazily tangling in my hair.
I giggled.
"What does that even mean?" I asked, turning my face to nuzzle against his chest. Even though our Minnesota winter had been mild, there was still heaps of snow out. We really should get inside.
Edward chuckled under me. "I don't know," he admitted. "I've never even seen mountains."
My toes nudged his shin through my boots. "We should go see them," I said, tilting my head up to see his face. "Let's go see infinity."
…
It had taken us six months to plan the perfect view. Neither of us had traveled much, and there was a world of mountains to choose from.
In the end, since we weren't professional mountain climbers, we decided to start with a mountain we could drive up. When Edward asked me if I had a preference, my heart lurched, and I'd blurted out, "Sound of Music!" before he could even finish asking.
We'd laughed about it, but the Swiss Alps had become our focus.
We'd done the research, we'd planned everything precisely. We even found a camper van we could rent, and had been living out of for the past four days.
All that was left, was to climb.
We weren't far from one of the lower summits, the one we could drive up to. We'd gotten up early, trying to beat the dawn.
Edward shifted gears as we got closer and the road became steeper.
"Here, we're here," Edward said, pulling off the road. We both jumped out of the camper the moment it was in park, racing up the road a few more steps.
It was the perfect vantage point.
"Are you ready?" Edward asked.
I reached out taking his hand, my breath catching as the first rays of sunlight blushed the sky. The world lit below us, an endless sea of greens, blues, and purples… it was spectacular, breathtaking.
Our first taste of infinity.
