Transcendence

So cold. On and on the path unwinds and with each step a new stinging inferno consumed her calf muscles. The clouds pulled tight around her mirroring her own claustrophobic breath. The altitude making her dizzy. Her chest thumped ever louder and here alone in the wilderness of the Gods her vulnerability echoed on the mountainside.

She heard several members of her enclave tell her of the Trail of Woe. They told her of their amazing rebirth and only the hardiest dared such a venture. A blast of hoary air ripped into her from her left flank. Her knees buckled and fatigue hit her hard. Maybe she could sit down, may even close her eyes and set camp for the night.

She looked ahead and daylight still held sway. Agatha reckoned if she could but keep going for another hour or two it’d ease her path for tomorrow. At that point the clouds parted and she gasped in total awe. She travelled so high to get to this cradle in the Himalayas. The sky so pure and clear and the sun, though weak in heat for her ,called to her like a voice from Rama himself. Her heart quailed though, the great peaks towered above, defiant sentinels daring her to take another step.

Agatha took out her canteen, took one draught of her precious ration. She eased off her backpack, found her tent and set to securing her berth for the night. The wind regained its full strength and once again the clouds held sway. Her head swam in intoxication from the rarefied air and her blood pulsed faster and faster in her arteries. She lost her balance and seemed to fall forever.

Death. The last barrier. She gazed down on her prone form on the harsh mountainside and heard the rhythm of the wind sing her name. Her awareness gazed upwards and a golden light bore down on her. A winged figure reached out and this feeling of incredible love washed over and held her tight. A path reached out behind this wondrous radiant figure.

“Agatha, you have come so far. Yet, are you ready to truly ascend?”

The ethereal voice echoed in her whole soul. The sound mellifluous and harmonious and its rhythm synchronised with the heartbeat of the universe. The path so tempting, so alluring and calling her name.

“Yes,” she replied.

The whole scene before her shook in violent intensity. Her awareness merged into a platinum haze and her spirit rose higher and higher. Agatha Reynolds transcended.

Her awareness eased into a dull awareness of gray. She blinked hard, looked out to the cold expanse and never had she been so aware of the inhalation and exhalation of her breath. Never had she been so aware of the rhythm in her heart. She stood up, looked up to the peak of the mountain and wondered how long she’d been asleep.

Agatha struggled to comprehend. She had perished yet here she stood once more on the mountainside. She asked herself why did she need to climb this peak? She looked back and returned from whence she came.

A voice came to her then in the wind. In perfect English and just for her.

“Now you are ascending.”