“I-I don’t know about this!” I mumbled through my near frozen face. It was the first day up at Eco Week, and we were at the ropes course. Although I was beyond excited for the ropes course, nerves consumed me the most! I stood on the rocky and unstable ground with the rest of my group, and looked up at the towering rock wall. The thirty foot wooden wall seemed to dance in the wind, each handhold looked as if it was grasping onto the wall. The giant swing on the other side of the wall looked like the swings at our school, without a seat, and about 30 feet higher. As I stood looking at the wall in awe, Mrs. Hale trotted over to me and tapped me softly on the shoulder.
“Would you do the rockwall first for me? I want you and Cam to set an example.” She said sweetly. Her words rang in my head. The high wind speed seemed to blow an answer right out of my mouth.
“Of course! I’d love to go first!” I exclaimed loudly. She nodded her head and walked away.
As kids began to collect into a line, I stepped to the side, waiting to go. Nerves seemed to build up inside me. Big. Doomed. Panic. Every second seemed to be minute. Every minute seemed to be hour.
“First two!” Mrs. Hale called out from behind me. I slowly stumbled over to the wall, Cam at my side. Mrs. Hale went over the instructions with the other students on how to belay me up the wall. As soon as I felt a tug around my harness, I began to climb. My hands pulling up my ice like body up, up, up. Every Time I got stuck, a cloud of encouragement came from the ground. As I kept climbing up the wall, I began to look over at Cam. He was already waiting to do the swing, but that didn’t stop me!
“You got this Natalie!” I heard Lara yell at the bottom. I swung my leg around the wall. My body followed.
“I DID IT!” I yelled once I made around the back of the wall. As the man clipped Cam and I into the giant swing, I just listened. I heard the animals in the distance, my friends supporting me from the ground, and I heard Cam wish me luck. He looked at me and gave me a thumbs up.
“Alrighty you two, you’ve made it this far!” The man at the top told us. “When I say so, just off the edge!” He yelled through the singing wind.
“3..2..1, GO!!” I leaped off the side of the wall, I felt the air kiss my cheek. A tender, soft kiss. I could see the string above me, swaying with the wind. My body jerked forward, then back. I felt endless, and fearless! I leaned back and hoped for this moment to last forever. I could feel myself slowing down, somehow Cam was still way higher than me, but I didn’t care. I smiled. Mrs. Odom came over to me and grabbed my legs to slow me all the way down. Feeling my feet on the ground felt wrong. I desired to be up in the air again, up where the only flaw is the ringing whistle of the wind hurtling through your ear. As soon as Mrs. Odom took my harness of and helped me off the swing, I ran to Lara. I knew that she would want to know all about it, but I wouldn’t tell. I didn’t want to spoil the surprise.
“How was it?” She asked me anxiously.
“It was, umm, you’ll see!” I giggled at her. I could see the anxiousness in her face, but I knew she’d thank me later for not spoiling it! This was by far, my favorite rock wall ever! I headed off to the Cat Walk, my head held high. This time, I was still nervous, but the knowledge and strength I had, will last a lifetime!
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