Sorry I didn't post yesterday. Busy busy busy .... bleh.
Cpehatr 41
The cold struck me like a hammer. And, wonder of wonders, it began to snow. Chunks of it floated up from the pit rapidly, and then swirled through the air, like in a snow globe.
Know how they say the first step is the hardest? Well, maybe you don’t, but I’ve heard it said. And it’s a lie. Each step is harder than the one previous. Especially when faced by a wall of freezing air and blinding snow.
I trudged on, managing about one step every three or four minutes. The cold was beginning to distract me to a point where I couldn’t hold a comprehensible thought.
It got to a point where all I could differentiate between was motion and pain. The cold was cutting into my flesh, it seemed. It was like a hundred daggers, each honed to a fine point, were poking into my flesh, and each step drove them slightly deeper.
I felt myself shuddering harder and harder. I was shaking uncontrollably, and the bridge began to sway.
This is the point where, in any story, you might expect the hero to make some spiritual revelation, to find some kind of hidden inner strength that gives him the strength to conquer all challenges and rise to the occasion.
You might expect me to realize what sort of hope the mudokons in the factory and in Rotag have that I’ll save them.
You might expect me to realize that the people of Oblim revere me as a hero, and I can’t let them down so close to my goal.
You might expect me to realize that even if I don’t want to save my brothers, I still want revenge on the glukkons who enslaved me.
You might expect me to realize that glukkons can withstand intensely low temperatures -- which is bull, because they keep the factory at a constant 87 degrees Fahrenheit (or, for our metric using friends, about 31.6 degrees Celsius) because they complain loudly in cold rooms.
As you may have already guessed, I had no such epiphany. As I have said, I couldn’t hold coherent thought anymore, because my brain was entirely focused on keeping my body from freezing.
My body gave out with about one quarter of the bridge remaining.
|