Just where are we going?
It’s bad enough that I have to sit in the back seat of the car, but why can’t he tell me where we are going?
It was a quiet afternoon at home when I got a call from my friend, Ronald. He said that he had a great idea and that he would be by shortly to pick me up.
“What’s up,” I asked.
“Can’t tell you,” was his quick reply. “See you in a few.”
He arrived shortly afterward. When I opened the door, he took one look at me and said, “No, this will never do. You’ll have to change your clothes.”
“What? What do you mean I have to change clothes?”
“Just change them, and don’t ask so many questions. A good set of workout clothes would do best, and don’t wear your best sneakers.”
I didn’t know what to say to that. But Ronald was my trusted friend. What could possibly go wrong?
I put on some sweats, a sweatshirt I had purchased at the University bookstore, got my older pair of Reebok’s, and headed out to where Ronald was waiting.
“Now get in the back of the car,” he demanded.
“Wh.?” I started to ask, but he just put his fingers to his lips to shush me and pointed to the back passenger seat.
So that’s how I got…well, I still don’t know where. We drove for about an hour.
The problem with sitting in the back seat is that you can’t see everything that the driver can see in the distance straight ahead. I guess that was Ronald’s plan. The only thing that I could discern was that we were driving steadily upwards. I also noticed that one side of the road was hills, and the other side of the road didn’t exist, and I saw no guard rails to prevent us from going off on that side of the road.
I also noted that the roadway, which wasn’t paved very well, was now turning white due to the snow that had started to fall. I still had faith that Ronald knew what he was doing…I think.
We finally reached a small plateau when Ronald stopped the car and told me to get out.
Looking around, I saw the cliff we had just driven up, and ahead of us, there was a large mountainous rock formation that went up pretty high. The view was pretty impressive.
“Where are we?” I asked. “Are we here for the view? It’s really impressive.”
Ronald, again, was quick to reply. “Forget the view; we’ve got a mountain to climb!”
“Why would we do that? Have you ever climbed a mountain before?” I asked.
“A duh! If I hadn’t climbed before, would I have brought you up here?” was his reaction.
I’ve known Ronald to stretch the truth now and then, so I asked, “I mean, besides the rock climbing wall at the University Gym?”
“What’s the difference?” he retorted, “A rock is a rock, and I’ve never fallen off the wall yet.”
There comes a time in everyone’s life when they realize that something someone has suggested to them is so stupid that they don’t even consider doing it. Then there are times when bonds of friendship and trust make you do something so stupid that you lose all sense of logical choice. And I know you all are thinking that I’m going to make the wrong choice; after all, Ronald is my trusted friend. Well, in this instance, I was going to make the right choice…that was until Ronald left me and started climbing.
With no safety line or any other climbing equipment, I scrambled up the side of the mountain as fast as I could in order to get ahead of Ronald and block his path, which I did. At the same moment, an official-looking car pulled up behind Ronald’s car, and in a loud official-sounding voice, its occupant made it quite clear that both of us were to get down immediately. Which we did.
As it turns out, you actually need a permit to climb this mountainside, and you also need the proper equipment. My explanation to the Rangers that I was trying to stop Ronald from climbing didn’t hold any water with them since I was the one that was in the lead. Ronald, as was his penchant, said nothing to support me.
We were escorted back down the mountain path to the Ranger station, where we were given a warning, and since we had not climbed too high before being caught, no fine was issued.
Ronald sullenly drove me back home. And as far as I know, that should be the end of it.
But then again, you all know Ronald.
