"The Mountain"

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Good Morning, and welcome to Sensational Stories Saturday, a place for writing and sharing stories in honor of and inspired by this girl. I'll do my best to keep them 250wc :) All stories are my own, authored by me, and not authorized for distribution without my permission. All stories are fictionalized accounts based on my own best experiences from childhood. Sometimes you don't realize they are "best experiences" until you are a grown-up. If you would like to share a story, please do so by either leaving one in the comments or leave a comment and let us know where your link is.

The Mountain

She could not understand why all of her friends wanted to rack their skis and go sip hot chocolate in the lodge when there was still 2 hours of lift ticket time left before the bus left the mountain to take them home. At 13, she had discovered the feeling of turning moguls beneath a breathtaking, star-crisped night. Swish, swish, swish. Breath 1, breath 2, breath 3 – she counted – and JUMP – Puff! She landed. How did this compare to overpriced, not even hot, hot chocolate? How could you possibly get cold if you were moving? 

She was baffled. No one was around. She had the entire mountain to herself. As she rode the lift one last time up the hill, she let her head and neck sink into the lift chair and stared up into the night. A raven came to say hello with a quiet, shadow-flight that was impossible to hear without your eyes closed; without tiny, luminescent snowflakes falling on your face in the dark. 

As she slid off of the chair and onto the run, she caught a glimpse of someone familiar. Her jaw dropped as she realized who it was – The cutest boy at ski school. And he was still out skiing. Wow! She figured he was inside the lodge drinking lukewarm hot chocolate with everyone else. He waited for her to catch up, smiled, and without saying a word, they took one last run down the mountain together.