The
was a girl in my grade who was the fairly pretty ponderous,
introverted, poetry-sharing type who asked me several times for me to
take her climbing or repelling. In the spring of our senior year
there was the definite sense that the window was closing on when we
could go. I had lost some interest because I had a girlfriend and the
both of them knew about each other. To that end we
organized a strictly platonic trip with her little brother along to
make sure that it was going to stay that way. There was a gate across
the road so we had to hike up about 3 miles carrying the gear and
making small talk for about an hour. Her brother had told me how much
he knew about rock climbing and rappelling and how he was pretty much
an expert in all aspects of the outdoors. When we had hiked up to the
top of the cliff we were rappelling off of I could tell right away he
may have overstated his qualification because he was having trouble
organizing the exact direction in which to put on his harness. We
were on top of the cliff that was about 60 feet tall and he was not
giving it the proper respect, walking back and forth towards the edge
all willy-nilly in a way that gives the guide of any trip with any
sort of danger a real sick feeling in the pit other stomach. I had
asked him to please stop walking up to the edge until he put on his
harness and his rappelling device. He told me he would be fine. To
prove his point he walked one more time to the edge and this time
actually did grab the rope that was already over the edge and leaned
forward and until his chest and torso were literally over the void.
Just like in every cheap thriller ever made, he slipped. His legs
flew out from underneath him and luckily with the double rope in his
hand he was able to stop himself from the plummet with just his legs
falling over the edge. I've never been so terrified in my life. I
don't think I particularly cared if he died, I really didn't know him
at all, I just didn't want them to die on my watch and in my view. I
yelled at him and instead of being sufficiently chastened and humbled
by his near brush with death he was defiant, saying it was fine
because he didn't fall off. We only rappelled one time each and then
I took down the rope and I walked back down in a much more surly
mood. For the next couple of weeks I would wake up in the middle of
the night in a cold sweat gripped in night terrors convinced I was
seeing this kid slide off the edge to his death. I don't think I've
ever taken anyone, but my own children rappelling again. Especially
not somebody who knew everything about everything and didn't need
their safety equipment attached.
