Second Chances : A trip to remember by Iza Deleanu His Mysterious Ways writing prompt entry Artwork by avmurray at FanArtReview.com |
I was in the ninth grade, and since I love to travel, that year I decided to go with my sister on a summer camp with children of different ages. We left the house for a week, but this was one week that I will never forget.We arrived at the camp, and I was enchanted by the beauty of the mountain and the river that was zig-zagging its way around the camp. I made friends right away with the kids from my room. At night, I used to make up stories, so the small ones could get to sleep and forget about being away from their parents. I made a friend, a girl who was in 5th grade. Mihaela was from Managalia, and we became pen friends after this memorable trip. One day we decided to explore the forest by ourselves. You see, at that time the roads were safer, and kids didn't need a chaperone to accompany them left and right. I think we chose the time wrong. Even in summer, five o'clock in a forest is not very "assuring". I remember how the sun was playing hide and seek with the trees. As we were going deeper in the forest, we got scared by the dead-pan silence that surrounded us. As we were admiring the gliding waves of the playful springs that were crying down from the mountain, suddenly we heard a scary noise. The wind become very unfriendly and the pattern of the light changed to a darker color. That was the signal that it was time we returned to our lodging. The way back much shorter; I think we ran the whole time. The next day my tribe of mischief and I, which included my sister, decided to go and explore the mountain across the river. Of course, we didn't tell anybody so, here we are exploring the unknown. We had no mountain equipment for this expedition, my rope was the blades of the grass. After ascending for five hundred meters they started to scream: "Look, Iza, there is a cross... somebody died here! Maybe we should turn back and call it the day." My tribe was smarter than me, so they started to descend. I told them: "You guys go ahead and wait for me at the bottom of the mountain." I ignored that sign of danger and continued my climbing. I remember trying to use a heap of grass to advance. The next thing I knew was that I was going down the slope with incredible speed, flying past my kids down to the river. All I saw was rushing trees in front of my eyes, and I was thinking: "Man, if I land on one of those I will be ripped in two." I saw a couple of mountain goats, probably they were wondering: "What the heck is she doing in our kingdom?" I couldn't believe my luck. I tumbled up in the void, and somehow I landed on the river bank. With my last wits I drug myself half a meter to the right. That move saved my life, because on my way down I engaged a "nice" avalanche of pebbles and stones that woul have been buried me alive. My friends come rushing towards me: "Are you, okay?" I just made the sign of Victory and dropped down trying to catch my breath. I stayed like that for 30 minutes. The kids were laughing and saying: "Man, she almost died there. Just imagine a fresh cross next to the other one." I finally regained my strength and told them that it's time to go back and not tell the teachers about this incident. The next day I was all purple and full of bruises on my back and hands. I told them if anybody asked why am like that to tell them that I fell in the bathroom. Later, I understood that God saved my life. I went back to take a look at the place of my embarrassing falling, and I should have been dead, nobody could've survived that rough fall, but here I am today talking about it. Do you think that I ever stopped exploring, nope! I have some other close encounters with death, but this is for another time.
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Iza Deleanu
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