The weekend is coming to a close, but this one was stretched out to be enough. Not lacking for me to ask an extension. Not slow for me to cut it short. Just enough. For the mountains have called, and once again we headed to its direction.

After more than a year of not being able to climb, I finally had the chance of going back on track (or should I say trek?). It was a walk in the park, they said. But we’re not even halfway through and my lungs were already gasping for air. My heart seems to be doing somersaults inside my chest. Pain was also starting to grip my back, enough to make me feel older than how I truly am. To think that it was just a level 2 climb! It was supposed to be easier compared to my previous experiences.

Yet there I was falling behind, with a rusty body, weaker heart, and not-so-flexible knees (the injury I got from the past has taken its toll). My flesh just keeps on protesting for me not to continue. If I had been alone, it would have been easy to surrender, but having two friends along can make all the difference.

“Dee? Dee? Deeeeeeeeee! Yuhoooo…..Danielle!”

I hear them shouting my name whenever I am no longer within sight. It was funny how they kept on calling and I just kept answering them on my head. Wait. I’m trying to catch my breath. And if we’re going to count the times that I’ve given up, that was the first.

I lost count of the times that I wanted to stop. Was it five? Or ten? I just remembered that I kept on asking and they also continued pushing.

Can we just go back?

No, we can do this.

Can we just go down now and swim?

No, we can finish this trek.

Can you just go ahead? I’ll wait for you to come back here.

Let’s go! It’s near! Come on!

So we continue to soldier on through the heat. Fifteen minutes more. Just a few steps more and we’re nearly there. We knew we made it when the summit greeted us with the cool breeze. We lied down on the grass and it never felt so fulfilling than this.