I questioned him about any of his peculiarities? Why should he ask me about mine? Why should I feel the need to defend myself!
‘I thought I felt a leech on my fingers. I was wiping them clean!’ How practised I was at feigning—lying. It was the easiest route. Pathetic.
‘Ah, I see.’
He probably thought I was some kind of weirdo.
‘We leave now!’ Mani’s voice came like a rescuing hand over the side of a cliff. ‘Yes, I think it’s time!’
I leapt up.
‘Ah yes, good-o, I think we make good time if we leave now.’ Akio spoke pleasantly and without any hint that he was still curious. Maybe he believed me.
Mani threw my backpack upon his shoulders and we were on our way. It was a cold morning, not unlike a winter’s morning back home in Ireland. A shroud of wispy clouds crossed our path and the night’s rain added its own slippery touch. Yesterday the weather had been warm and heavy—quite a contrast to the cool and wintry feel now on day two. Thirty minutes into the trek, though, and despite the pinching cold, all three of us were sweating. The path still led uphill. It was, in fact, a continuation of the three thousand steps of the previous evening. It was a strenuous start to the day.
Soon Mani found a dry spot to put the backpack down. Everybody was pleased with the break, even though we’d only been walking a short time.
‘Not so easy now!’ Mani massaged his calf muscles. ‘But later not so bad.’
Akio nodded in agreement, still wiping the sleep from his eyes. I just gazed out across the vast, vibrant landscape.
The previous day’s trekking had loosened my muscles and I didn’t feel so fatigued this morning. And it wouldn’t be unlike me to find some competitive energy, too, with Akio joining our group. Ever since I was a kid I’d striven to be the best at everything, from athletics to music to how many pints of beer I could drink. Relentlessly, I’d pushed myself, often beyond my capabilities, especially against someone I didn’t know well. But trying to be the winner was never my drive: it was the desire to let people know what I could do.
Mani was back on his feet. So was Akio. I went ahead a few steps. It felt good to be leading the group.
‘You know,’ she said with a giggle as we strolled along the beach, ‘you walk very fast.’
‘Do you think so?’
She pinched my side. ‘You know so!’
Suddenly she stopped in her tracks. It was almost sundown, the beach was quiet and still, the Indian Ocean shushed calmly alongside us.
‘Isn’t this sunset breathtaking!’ she exclaimed in a gasp of emotion.
Our footprints were still visible along the shoreline, under the intense reds, oranges and yellows of the sky. We stood side by side, hand in hand, watching the horizon and the daylight fading. Then the night sky was upon us. We didn’t speak for some time. We were both happy to breathe in the cool air and enjoy the surroundings. ‘You know,’ she exclaimed cheerfully, ‘if you don’t slow down, you might just walk by a moment like this.’
Perhaps she was right. I was moving so fast I was actually running away from things.
‘How about we go and get some food,’ I suggested.
‘Sounds perfect to me,’ she said, with a beautiful smile on her face.
The path continued uphill, occasionally dipping down much to the relief of all three of us. I found that in taking the lead I’d actually wound up quite a pace, and often I had to stop to allow Mani and Akio to catchup. Now I wasn’t trying to race my way through the mountains, but had just discovered that in leading I could have some time to myself. And the prayer that Akio had witnessed earlier still needed finishing undisturbed.
Dear God …
I began thinking about the Maoists. We were getting close to Ghorepani with every step and that’s where the British guy had met them. What if they did have machine guns? What if things got out of control? What if the guns went off even accidentally? What if they decided to
‘I thought I felt a leech on my fingers. I was wiping them clean!’ How practised I was at feigning—lying. It was the easiest route. Pathetic.
‘Ah, I see.’
He probably thought I was some kind of weirdo.
‘We leave now!’ Mani’s voice came like a rescuing hand over the side of a cliff. ‘Yes, I think it’s time!’
I leapt up.
‘Ah yes, good-o, I think we make good time if we leave now.’ Akio spoke pleasantly and without any hint that he was still curious. Maybe he believed me.
Mani threw my backpack upon his shoulders and we were on our way. It was a cold morning, not unlike a winter’s morning back home in Ireland. A shroud of wispy clouds crossed our path and the night’s rain added its own slippery touch. Yesterday the weather had been warm and heavy—quite a contrast to the cool and wintry feel now on day two. Thirty minutes into the trek, though, and despite the pinching cold, all three of us were sweating. The path still led uphill. It was, in fact, a continuation of the three thousand steps of the previous evening. It was a strenuous start to the day.
Soon Mani found a dry spot to put the backpack down. Everybody was pleased with the break, even though we’d only been walking a short time.
‘Not so easy now!’ Mani massaged his calf muscles. ‘But later not so bad.’
Akio nodded in agreement, still wiping the sleep from his eyes. I just gazed out across the vast, vibrant landscape.
The previous day’s trekking had loosened my muscles and I didn’t feel so fatigued this morning. And it wouldn’t be unlike me to find some competitive energy, too, with Akio joining our group. Ever since I was a kid I’d striven to be the best at everything, from athletics to music to how many pints of beer I could drink. Relentlessly, I’d pushed myself, often beyond my capabilities, especially against someone I didn’t know well. But trying to be the winner was never my drive: it was the desire to let people know what I could do.
Mani was back on his feet. So was Akio. I went ahead a few steps. It felt good to be leading the group.
‘You know,’ she said with a giggle as we strolled along the beach, ‘you walk very fast.’
‘Do you think so?’
She pinched my side. ‘You know so!’
Suddenly she stopped in her tracks. It was almost sundown, the beach was quiet and still, the Indian Ocean shushed calmly alongside us.
‘Isn’t this sunset breathtaking!’ she exclaimed in a gasp of emotion.
Our footprints were still visible along the shoreline, under the intense reds, oranges and yellows of the sky. We stood side by side, hand in hand, watching the horizon and the daylight fading. Then the night sky was upon us. We didn’t speak for some time. We were both happy to breathe in the cool air and enjoy the surroundings. ‘You know,’ she exclaimed cheerfully, ‘if you don’t slow down, you might just walk by a moment like this.’
Perhaps she was right. I was moving so fast I was actually running away from things.
‘How about we go and get some food,’ I suggested.
‘Sounds perfect to me,’ she said, with a beautiful smile on her face.
The path continued uphill, occasionally dipping down much to the relief of all three of us. I found that in taking the lead I’d actually wound up quite a pace, and often I had to stop to allow Mani and Akio to catchup. Now I wasn’t trying to race my way through the mountains, but had just discovered that in leading I could have some time to myself. And the prayer that Akio had witnessed earlier still needed finishing undisturbed.
Dear God …
I began thinking about the Maoists. We were getting close to Ghorepani with every step and that’s where the British guy had met them. What if they did have machine guns? What if things got out of control? What if the guns went off even accidentally? What if they decided to
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