Going Up

Good morning, FFFs!

Here it is. Another Friday. The days are marching on relentlessly, and they won't slow down. 

I did get to stay home most of this week. Well, at least compared to last week. This time my sis and I went over to my brother's on Tuesday and spent the day packing orders. I worked nursery Wednesday evening, and then last evening we went over to my brother's for Buster's 3rd birthday party.

I haven't written at all this week. I really wanted to, but that hasn't happened. Mostly because two of my evenings were busy, and I was tired on Tuesday. But I did manage to get the idea for this year's Christmas play at church. I had one idea, but it wasn't working. And I had all sorts of vague ideas that didn't go anywhere. Now I have the idea that is working. I just have to write the play now.

I am still hoping to work on "Lake Wood" though because I really want to get it finished.

Guess what I actually did yesterday? I worked on writing blog posts! I haven't really worked on them since June, so it was kind of fun. I need to work on them more often so I get enough of them scheduled for when I'm really busy, but I think I at least have ideas for most, if not all the rest of the weeks this year.

It sure is quiet without the chatter and business of Camp going on. But it also means I haven't been as distracted. 😉 Oh, I got asked to speak to a group of ladies (I think they are all reading or writing teachers) in January! I haven't come up with my topic yet. I was told it could be about how I get my ideas and write, ideas for promoting writing or reading in students, or anything else that relates. It should be fun since I love talking about writing. 😀 And I was told I could bring my books to display on a table. I don't think they realize just how many books I have. 😁

Today's story is just a sketch. I grabbed my "Emotion Thesaurus" and randomly picked an emotion and wrote about it. Enjoy!

Going Up

    Justin glanced down at his watch. Maybe there wouldn’t be enough time. It was half-past two. They didn’t have to be back until five. There was time. Too much time.
    “Hey, come on, Justin!”
    Looking up, Justin gave a nod. “Be there in a minute. Need to tie my shoe.” He crouched and carefully began tying his shoe, making sure it was secured with a double knot and then checking his other one. At last, with a sigh, he stood and followed the rest of his youth group down the trail toward the lookout.
    Collin and his sister, Paris, had lingered behind and waited for him to catch up. “Have you ever been up in the lookout tower, Justin?” Collin asked.
    “Nope.” Justin smiled quickly. “We don’t get to the park much. You know what happens when you live close to something; you never visit it.”
    “That’s the truth,” Collin admitted. “We lived near Mt Rushmore for three years, and I think we visited it twice.” He looked over at his sister for confirmation.
    “Yep,” Paris agreed. “We went right after we first moved, and then Mom thought we should go once more before we left. But you’ve lived here all your life, right?” She looked at Justin.
    “Uh huh.” He clenched his hands and then straightened his fingers and wiped them down the sides of his jeans. He could feel a tightness in his chest, and he drew a deep breath hoping it would go away. It didn’t. “I just won’t go,” he thought. “I can do that.”
    “I can’t wait to get up to the top and look at the view,” Paris said. “I’ve heard you can see for miles from up there.”
    Justin didn’t reply. He knew they were almost there. Almost to the tower. He could hear the voices of those ahead ,and he paused to examine the leaf of a tree.
    “Hey, Justin.”
    “Be right there, Collin.” He pulled out his phone and took a picture of the leaf. Then another of a tiny flower. The voices hushed, and Justin hoped they’d go up without him.
    “Justin!”
    So much for that hope. Justin recognized the voice of their group leader and started forward once again to join the fringe of the group.
    The leader looked around. “All right, a few instructions before we head up. No goofing off when we’re up there.” Mr. Thornton looked pointedly at two of the guys until, with sheepish grins, they nodded. “No shoving to get a better spot to take pictures. We don’t want any phones, cameras, or people taking flight.”
    Justin grimaced at the chuckles that went through his friends.
    “I think that’s all. Ready to head up?”
    “Yeah!” Cheers rang on all sides, and Justin tried to act excited.
    Mrs. Thornton went up with the first wave of young people, and her husband lingered on the ground watching the rest move on inside the structure and start up the stairs.
    If only someone else would linger and start talking. Justin glanced around but found everyone moving in the direction of the stairs.
    Collin beckoned him, and he reluctantly moved over. “Come up with us.”
    “It’s going to be such fun,” Paris added, her eyes sparkling.
    “I don’t think–” Justin began slowly.
    “Oh, come on, please,” Paris begged. “You don’t have to go near the edge if you don’t want to. But you should go up and see the view since you’ve never done it before.”
    Justin could feel the sweat trickling down his back. “I guess–”
    “Great! Come on!” Paris started up the stairs, and Justin found his feet slowly following.
    “It’s just a set of stairs,” he told himself. “I can do stairs. This is no big deal.” But each step became harder than the last. At the first landing he glanced up. The stairs seemed to never end. Behind him were Collin and Mr. Thornton. He had to keep going.
    To keep his mind off how high he was going, Justin began counting the steps under his breath. He would conqure this fear even if it killed him!
    “Hey, Mr. Thornton,” someone shouted down from above. “Does this tower move with the wind?”
    Justin froze. His hand gripped the railing and his knuckles grew white. His breathing sped up, and he accidentally glanced down. Closing his eyes against the sudden dizziness, he fought to keep standing as his legs turned to jelly and his head pounded. He had to get back down.
    “Justin?”
    Starting as someone touched his arm, Justin opened his eyes and saw Collin looking at him with concern.
    “Are you okay?”
    He tried to speak, but his voice refused to work. It was better after clearing his throat. “Heights–” He shuddered. “Can’t stand ‘em.” Quickly his shut his eyes again as the world seemed to spin.
    Collin said something, but it was taking all of Justin’s focus not to panic completely, and he didn’t understand him.
    A firm arm came around his shoulders, and someone pried his fingers off the railing. He was going to fall!
    “Justin!” Collin’s voice was almost sharp. “We’re going down. Take a step down.”
    Keeping his eyes tightly shut, Justin managed to step back down one, then two, then three steps. They had reached one of the landings.
    “Justin, there are seven steps to the next landing. You can make it down seven steps, can’t you?”
    Opening his eyes and forcing himself to look at Collin, he nodded. “I . . . I think so. You go on up. I’ll make it down now.”
    Collin shook his head. “No way. I’m not letting you go down alone looking the way you look now. Oh, good, here’s Axton.” Another young man, one of the older ones, stopped beside them.
    “Going down?” His voice was cheery. “Me too. I’ve had enough of the wind and the view.” He moved to Justin’s other side and took a light hold of his arm.
    To Justin, the steps down to the ground seemed like a hundred, and it felt like days before they reached it. But at last they had earth beneath their feet. Justin’s knees sagged, but Collin and Axton half carried him to a bench. There he sat in silence, his eyes closed, trying to slow his breathing down.
    At last, when the panic left and his heart was beating normally, he looked up. “Thanks. I thought maybe I could do it, but–” He shook his head. “You two should go up. I’ll be fine here now.”
    Axton shook his head. “I was already up. I don’t enjoy heights very much, so I’ll just stay down. Collin?”
    Tipping his head back and looking at the top, Collin shook his head. “No, I’m good. What if we take a look at the map and see if we can figure out how to get back to the cars without going on the trails we came on.”

Do you like heights?

Is there something you are terrified of?

How was your week?