HtH137 – Atop the Summit
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: The girls enjoy a small respite.
Far away from the house, a pair of brown shoes most unsuited to hiking climb the final step before the summit.Eclair's thighs ache terribly from that long climb up, and she practically sits down on the spot the moment she spies the silver haired Ablam in the distance, crouched over a campfire.
The summit is a surprisingly flat viewing area. While it has not been paved over with the same white stones that make up the stairway, someone had taken time to set up little fences at the ledges, lest someone accidentally fall off.
(A soft, melodic chime rings out)
"Eclair! You made it! Oh... Are you too tired to get up? Ablam is waving to us, I'll run over and ask her for some water..."
The girl waves her hand, resting against the final bit of stair railing, "There's no need, Lumi... just give me a minute."
By now, the sun had hidden itself behind the mountains, and the sky turned dark. The stars had not quite come out to dance yet, though there is a nice gentle wind blowing through the summit.
Shakily, unsteadily, she had made it.
If she could, she would like to close her eyes and go straight to sleep now, as uncomfortable that may be in her present wear.
"Hey! Don't go to sleep now! It's not always you get to taste Ablam-style cooking!"
Ablam is hurrying over, juggling a hot potato wrapped in aluminum foil. Blowing on it to cool it off, there's a nice, fragrant scent coming from within the foil. Oddly enough, it feels like Eclair had it the morning before...
"Is that breakfast bacon?"
"Yeah!" Ablam unwraps the aluminum foil to expose the potato wrapped in strips of bacon. "There was a lot of that aboard the train, so I took some!" The baked potato had absorbed the juices from the bacon strips, and is dyed a succulent, guiltless red! They are far away from their house chef's nutrition tables now, a little comfort food won't hurt!
Eclair doesn't argue with the good taste in her hands.
She just silently nibbles on the bacon-potato combo, life returning to her fingers.
Near the little tent that Ablam had set up, Lumi is tasting soup from the tiny portable stove, then resolutely leaning down to grab a shaker by the campfire, giving multiple shakes over the bubbly broth.
There is something calming about this summit. Perhaps it was the simplicity of it all. Work, the house, and everything else was far away from her mind as possible, the only wonder being where did Ablam find the chilli flakes to flavor the baked potato. A grateful crinkle later, Eclair presses the used aluminum foil into a small square, and slowly gets back up on her feet.
"That really hit the spot. What else do you have, Ablam?"
Ablam is already one step ahead, beckoning Eclair to come forward with a cat's paw motion. She strides past the campsite, and entices Lumi to do the same too. "You two have got to come here and see this!"
The girls head towards the ledge, and slowly, the sight that Ablam wanted the two to see revealed itself.
It is a crater.
A large, dark hollow carved into the continent itself, stretching so far downwards that it was impossible to see the bottom. From their vantage point, the girls are still a long ways away from the crater itself, separated by an entire forest of trees. Yet, the immensity of the crater's scale made it seem much closer than it should be. It was difficult to pinpoint where the horizontal ends of this gorge ended, for it stretched from one mountain line to the other. Far away, shimmering blue ore lodged into the sheer cliffs twinkle with soft light, like someone is waving hello from the other side.
The girls are silent for a while.
Overhead, a shooting star streaks across the night sky.
(A brief pause - a chime of wonder)
"It's... impressive."
"Impressive is right, Lumi! I bet none of the others have seen anything like this." Ablam leans a little forward on the fenced railing, which wobbles a little under her weight. "I wonder what happened here, did someone just dig a big hole here and leave? Where did they go with all that rock?"
"Up there."
Eclair points towards an indeterminable direction in the sky.
Ablam squints. Really hard.
"Not seeing anything, Eclair!"
"It's there. A little far away maybe...
... it's where I came from."
We are trying something different! This is a simul-posting at the same time as the Scribblehub release! Go check out the entire series at this link!
