The Climb (Prompt 24)

Jerry had never been one of those brawny, athletic types. In fact, he had always been what people now referred to as geeks. Hence it was more of a shock than a surprise, when he found himself hanging from a rope, climbing along the crag at Yosemite as the sun was starting to rise.

At fifty years old, with three kids and two ex-wives, he had a lot to lose if things went sideways. And yet, he slumbered on, one step at a time, up the cliff. He held on to the rope for his dear life. Probably, not so dear if he was willing to endure through such a perilous activity.

In truth, Jerry was suffering through what many people referred to as the old-age crisis. This usually comes a decade after the middle age crisis. As is the case in mid-life crises, in the old age crisis, people begin to question, not their purpose, but their life journey as a whole. 

Sure, Jerry had built a multi-billion dollar business from scratch and now his progenies would never need to work. Sure, he had married the most beautiful woman on the planet, twice, and had innumerable affairs with attractive women from all over the planet, yet something seemed to be missing. He couldn’t pinpoint what it was. When his eldest suggested that maybe he was looking for a new challenge, Jerry did the one thing he could think of. Replicate the opening scene from Mission Impossible 2.

Jerry turned out to be too lily-livered to climb a cliff without ropes. Hence, he forsook the idea of a trad climb and decided to suffer top-rope climbing instead.

He had already been sweating as he started the climb. Now, an hour later he was well and truly leaking. Jerry was fitter than most men his age. He had once been proud of that fact. This expedition, though, had made him realise he was too old for some things.

Ben, his childhood friend, his buddy from school, was standing below him, on the ground, acting as the belayer, and Hank, his second wife’s step-brother, was standing atop the hill. Hank had locked the anchor and was monitoring the climb waiting with refreshments. Both were encouraging him to go on but were quite doubtful whether Jerry had it i

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n him to accomplish this feat.

In the middle of the climb, Jerry paused, taking a breather. His thighs pained with the effort and he was quite sure, by now all the muscles in his legs would have mushed together. He balanced himself and took off one hand from the rope, wiped off the sweat from his face. It wasn’t a good sign that he had been huffing all the way up and his breathing had not returned to normal, even during his many breaks. 

A cramp started to build in Jerry’s right leg and involuntarily, Jerry kicked his leg to settle down his muscle. He lost his balance and with only one hand on the rope was in free fall. Ben came to action, and obstructed the fall. He was halfway up the crag himself, holding onto the rope, balancing both of their weights. Fortunately, the carabiners had held. Ben shouted to Jerry to get his bearings and balance himself on the rock again.

Jerry, who had lost his focus during the fall sighed deeply and one leg at a time, balanced himself on the crag again. Gradually, he climbed and as he did, Ben descended.

Jerry’s thoughts had wandered to his children. Maybe, instead of involving himself in this crapola of an activity, he could focus more on philanthropy like other rich men his age.

He kept himself distracted, not thinking about the remaining distance. He thought about the things he would have liked to do instead - go travelling to the Balkans, meet A-Rod, write a book or two, prevent global warming. The last one made him laugh. There was so much to do and so little time. He had another two good decades left, at best. Why not, use those years for the betterment of the world? 

To his surprise, he could see the obese figure of Hank, just a couple feet away. Jerry took one large leap and Hank caught him. Jerry straightened himself and released the knots and the climbing gear.

His ordinance was over. He waved down below to Ben, to tell him he had reached. As he did, he thought back on the climb. Maybe, accomplishing this hazardous undertaking had changed him for the better. He was now ready to be a contributor rather than just a beneficiary.