Sharing Tea and Stories

Author’s Note: This is a continuation of Farren’s journey through a limbo world where everyone is trying to reach the peak of a mountain but have a rope tied to their ankle. Start here or with Part 1.

Farren finished telling his story to the three hikers who had settled in the small cabin on the side of the mountain. He concluded by talking about the people he’d met at the base of the peak unable to ascend because of their rock. When he mentioned these people, the group let out a scoff of satisfaction that they weren’t stuck down there.
“So you were clever enough to get yourself tied to the mountain. That’s some good thinking,” Arnold said after Farren finished.
“Well I wouldn’t say that,” Farren replied.
Before he could explain, Heidi asked, “How long have you been hiking up the mountain?”
Everyone looked eager to hear the answer to this question and the room grew quiet. Farren realized it had only been a couple of weeks, so he rounded up and said, “About a month.”
“My lord,” Arnold said under his breath while Heidi gasped and Esmerelda squinted at him with her purple eyes.
“No,” Esmerelda said, “That’s not right; you must not be counting your time right.”
Farren was unsure of how to answer this accusation then said, “maybe I’m a little off. Maybe it was two months.”
Arnold leaned forward conspiratorially. He’d taken his large chair back, and Farren was sitting on one of his rope balls. In a whisper that the entire room could hear he said, “It took me three years to reach this far up the mountain. Es took at least five years by her count. Heidi,” he looked at her and frowned, “She took ten years and the last year of that was merely getting from the edge of the clearing to the cabin.”
Farren frowned knowing that Heidi barely had enough slack to reach the other side of the shelter. He knew there was nothing he could say that could justify his speed to these people, so he sipped more of his mint drink that had grown cold.
“So I guess you won’t be staying with us here for long,” Esmerelda made the statement in a way that seemed to be a question without a correct answer.
“Well it is pretty cold out there, so I’m in no hurry to move on,” Farren said in a cautious tone. “But yes eventually I’ll be on my way. I’m not big on being stuck in one place for a long time,” He gave them a smile meaning it to be encouraging, but he saw that his sentiment did not amuse the group.
Esmerelda gave him a flat stare and Heidi refused to look at him, and it appeared to him that she was on the edge of tears. Farren felt like his mere existence was causing everyone in the cabin discomfort and pain. Not sure what he could add he sipped on the last of his beverage. The clay cup felt rough on his lips. “You all know everything about me. But I don’t know anything about any of you. How did you meet up here?”
Arnold looked at Esmerelda and Heidi, but for once the pair wasn’t eager to speak. He took the lead and said, “I was the first one up here. I pulled my rock, which I requested be on the smaller side, and made it to the far edge of the clearing when I got stuck. I was locked in place for over a year, waiting out the cold nights behind some trees. Eventually, I decided I’d try to build something to block me from the wind. I built a little stone ax and began working on this cabin.”
“Do you still work on trying to make progress with your rock?” Farren asked.
“Every day,” the man said with pride, “Although some times it’s just a light tug as I reach the edge of the clearing. I’ve been stuck in this spot for almost twenty years by my last count. Trees don’t come down quickly with a crummy stone ax, but luckily I’ve got time. My rock has gotten unstuck twice in all that time. Each time I gained a meter of slack, maybe less.”
Farren tried to hide his shock, but he didn’t feel like he did a good job. The nearly four years Farren spent following his rope around the globe felt like a significant amount of time to him, but even then he had never stayed in a spot for a whole year, let alone ten of them.
“I’m pretty sure I’m stuck here for good, that last bit of slack I got was so long ago I don’t remember when. Whoever is in charge around here doesn’t want me making any more progress.”
“I know the feeling,” Heidi chimed in from next to the fire. She had gotten up to make some more tea for everyone to sip on.
“All in all, I can’t complain. It’s peaceful up here. I’m sure on the ground I’d run into a lot of travelers who were passing by. Up here no one passes through. The only people I’ve met are Es and Heidi.”
“And we’re so easy to get along with,” Esmerelda added with a devilish smile. “I got here maybe five or six years ago. I’d been traveling up the mountain for a while, and I saw smoke coming up from the forest, so I started moving towards it. This was back before I showed Arnold how to make a less smokey fire. He was burning anything and everything he could get his hands on. I don’t know how you lived in this place with so much smoke.”
“Either way I changed course and began climbing towards the cabin. It was slow progress since my rock kept getting stuck, but I made it. I work on unsticking my rock every once in a while but what’s the point?” She gave Farren a light shrug. “I’d just get it stuck again when I tried to go higher. And who knows how much more I have to travel.

Heidi poured everyone another cup of mint tea and sat in her rudimentary wooden chair after setting the pot near the fire to stay warm. “You already know everything there is to know about me. I spent ten years struggling up to this cabin. I got here maybe two years ago, but like Es said I spent a year of that merely getting from the edge of the clearing. My rock isn’t even that big. I don’t know why it’s getting stuck so often.” She frowned and took a small sip of her drink. “I still try getting some slack every morning, but I don’t expect it to do much for me. I’d be happy if I could get enough to make it to the other wall of this cabin.” The final comment drifted off like a somber breeze.
After a moment Arnold added, “So that’s us. We’ve made it the furthest up the mountain so far. I know because I’ve searched around below looking for other’s rope. I haven’t made it around the mountain so you could say we’re the highest hikers on this side, but I’m pretty confident no one has made it this high on the other side either.”
Farren gave him an impressed and interested eyebrow raise, less so because he was impressed but more so because he wanted to make the man think he was impressed.
“I always think it’s so strange that we all got stuck in the same place,” Esmerelda said.
Arnold rolled his eyes as if he had heard the comment a dozen times. And likely he had. “Es thinks that there’s some wall or canyon that our ropes are getting stuck on. And that’s why we get stuck here.”
“Well, it’s the only reasonable solution. We’re all here in the same spot, aren’t we? You must have seen it on your way here,” she said looking at Farren.
Farren gave a slight frown, then answered honestly, “I haven’t seen anything of the sort. The trees get thicker closer to the mountain, but that’s really it.”
“Besides, everyone’s rope is a different length,” Arnold added while Farren nodded to confirm its truth. “It’s got to be something else,” Arnold said.
“Have you considered it’s because you’re comfortable here?” Farren asked. They wouldn’t be the first people he’d met that were in one place they were comfortable with and not making progress because of it.
“What are you saying?” Heidi asked.
“It sounds like he’s saying we’ve given up,” Arnold said in an accusatory tone.
“No, no, no,” Farren said holding out his hands, “It’s not that. I’m just pointing out what Es said. That if she made any further progress up the mountain, it would merely cause more headaches.”
“I didn’t say we’d given up though,” Esmerelda chimed in. “I pull on my rope most days, not that it does much good.”
“You just think that since you’ve got all the slack in the world, you’re better than those of us who are working hard to pull our rocks up the mountain?” Arnold asked, “Not all of us are as lucky as you to have our rope tied to the mountain.”
It wasn’t the first time someone labeled Farren as lucky recently, and at the beginning of his journey, he couldn’t have imagined it ever happening. “Turning back and gathering slack is a viable option for anyone. I’m not lucky just because I got my rope tied to the mountain. And I never said you gave up. I’m just saying that there’s not a lot of incentive for you to keep climbing.”
“That’s right there’s no point to climbing,” Esmerelda said, “We’re the highest ones on the mountain.”
“Well we’re the highest ones until Farren leaves,” Heidi said staring down at her cup of tea.

Arnold’s eyes flashed with furry at this realization. Farren had felt the aggression rising as the conversation moved on but by the time he decided to act on it things were too late.
It was unclear who moved first. Farren jumped off his ball of rope as Arnold bolted across the table. A clay cup shattered as Heidi screamed and Esmerelda started asking what was going on.
Farren put his hand on the doorknob and was going to open it to the outside where he might have a chance of escaping. As soon as he grabbed it, his ankle was stuck, and he couldn’t move forward. He turned around, and Arnold had Farren’s slack under his foot. The man’s massive body was holding Farren back from escaping out the door.
“You’re not going to beat us up the mountain,” Arnold claimed. Farren was stuck in front of the door but unable to make it out. Arnold began to make progress towards him stepping on his rope every bit of the way.
Farren grabbed the only thing within his reach and got a hold of the stone ax on the wall next to the door. He swung it wildly, and this stopped Arnold from making progress.
“Let me out,” Farren protested. In the chaos, the man hadn’t given Farren any slack. “I’m not doing any of you any harm by finishing my journey up the mountain.”
Arnold laughed a deep laugh. “You’re doing us plenty of harm. You’re insulting all of our hard work to make it this far by using your trickery. There’s no way we’re going to let you make it past us.”
Farren swung the ax in defiance. Unfortunately, it did little good. The two men were at a stalemate. Esmerelda’s purple eyes were filled with fury while Heidi had backed away from the situation as far as her slack would let her.
Arnold bent over and picked up Farren’s rope. “Don’t,” he shouted pointing the ax at the man. However, it didn’t deter Arnold.
The man pulled with muscles built up from years of using a stone ax to clear the forest. Before Farren knew what had happened his feet were pulled out from under him. He felt the world jump up on him and realized he was falling right before his head hit the ground of the cabin. Then things went black for Farren.