What she Wants - Chapter 6

by ~Takasumi-Airi

Chapter 6

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Augh!

He fell in the snow for the 5th time. He was in full ski gear with the complete skis and sticks. The instructor crouched next to him and laughed in broken French-English. She was in fact French but she was doing fine trying to communicate with Donghae in English. "Are you alright?" executing a perfect prochausse-au-nez beside him, sending snow in his face. She pulled off her ski goggles and looked at him with concern until he pulled off his goggles as well and grinned at her.

"I'm fine. Okay." he said, making the ok sign with his glove. He tried to get up but apparently, he still wasn't used to getting up from a fall, even though he was pushing with his ski sticks. Finally, the instructor held her ski pole to him. "Hold onto it," she instructed. 

Despite her small thin frame, she was quite strong. She pulled him upright as they pushed and pulled together. When he finally got up, she giggled and he laughed along with her. He scratched his nose with one hand. "Let's try again?" She smiled, "Wait until you try going up on higher hills with the tele-ski." She indicated a nearby sign that said Perches ici. 

Donghae glanced at the machine behind it and put on a brave face. The people in line took turns grabbing a long rod with some sort of rubber stopper at the end that they put between their legs. When all that was done, the rod would jerk the person up the path. Donghae winced at the sight.

Hopefully, it wasn't going to hurt too much. 

---

The next morning, his body ached all over and he had a big headache. Every joint and muscle groaned as he tried to get out of bed. After ten minutes of pointless wriggling in his bed, he called room service. He was anticipating a day of relaxation and rest today. 

And he was wrong. The French instructor he had befriended invited him to join her for a walk and Donghae thought that it would be impolite to decline. So after finishing the tray of French food brought up by a maid, he dressed up in warm clothing for the cool weather outside. 

Turns out that the 'walk' was a 1800m hike up the mountains. He struggled to keep up and would always be ahead, but sometimes, he allowed himself the luxury of lying down in the deep snow to catch his breath while he waited for her. They had one drink break at a mountain café then they escalated straight up.  He was deeply regretting the many layers he had worn for the walk. Now, he found himself, shedding off jacket, vest, sweater until he was finally only in a flimsy t-shirt. 

After what seemed like an eternity, they stopped for lunch. While admiring the mountain scenery around them, Donghae spotted something like a white cross in the distance. "What is that?" he asked his companion. She explained that it was a cross planted by some people but even she didn't really know about the history of it. 

Suddenly fueled with motivation, Donghae rushed to finish his sandwich and can of Coke [graciously provided by his French friend]. Then he pulled his coat close to his chest and started the climb again. It was longer than it had seemed; there were several big hills to climb before he got to his destination. Ignoring his guide's shouts, he pushed forward on the path. He remembered inclining his head forward since the head was the heaviest part of the body and hoped that gravity would help him. Then when he arrived at the foot of the last hill, he gathered strength and trudged intensely upwards.

At the same time, two elder women were descending the hill in rackets. As he passed them, crawling and panting, he overheard one of them say: "Well well, that's the most determined Christian in this generation I've ever seen." He puffed with pride and crawled all the way to the top. When he saw that the cross was just some feet away, he stood up and cried out with relief. 

Then he glanced at the beautiful view of the mountains below and collapsed onto the snow, laughing. 

He had made it.