The Hills

The water wasn’t the only thing reflecting.

The hills were enchanting.

But not as captivating as the man that walked ahead of her. Not so much walked as lithely maneuvered the slopes of the rocks that came alive with the sounds of his footsteps. She wasn’t even exaggerating. She traced his path, having given up trying to keep up after the first embarrassing stumble.

“How fit are you?” his voice resonated  with the rustling leaves and whistling woods.

“On a scale of one to ten, I’d say seven” she coughed, wishing her body would cooperate.

“Oh c’mon…”  echoed that voice, from farther up this time. She saw his silhouette disappear into the early morning shadows of the trees waking up. Even his silhouette was beautiful.

She stopped for breath

‘Okay, it’s five’ she whispered.

For a moment she thought she would black out, wondering why she had agreed to go up the hills with him.She wished she’d known earlier that she had the lung capacity of a two year old. But she loved the hills although she hadn’t known then that he would get her to this one. 

She should’ve though. He always did things a different way. And it was never deliberate. He seemed to love untrodden paths. 

If only they could reach the top and be done with the torture, she wished. Yes, she was all for pushing the boundaries and challenging herself. But with him, she just wanted to talk. She wanted to forget all words, which she often did when a question caught her off guard,in the little time they had together. The ‘little’ is a story for another day. 

Her feet transversed the distance of her thoughts as she found herself face to face with him. He felt like home. Something she could keep going back to. He was the anchor and the breeze. Tugging to move forward while keeping the vital alive and connected.

They talked, ran, sat, meditated, talked some more and then began to descend.

The trees grew sparse and the wind blew gently.

“You know, somehow I always manage to feel cold” she said.

“Huh, are you cold-blooded?”

Despite herself, she laughed. It was a lame joke.

“No, it’s just that the world is too conditioned.”

~