Chapter Ten

As Mark walked towards the Ridge he kept rubbing his stinging eyes, but he couldn’t bear it any longer and fell to his hands and knees crying.  The image of Hayley and Joel was etched in his memory.  He couldn’t bear it.  Last night at the pool Sarah began to feel tired and went back to her cabin, while he decided to grab something to eat before calling it a night. He headed to the kitchen from the dining hall side and on his way out is when he saw them, together, on the couch by the fireplace.

The calls of the birds echoing in the mountains gave him the strength he needed to stand up; as did the soil beneath his hands. Steadily he forced himself to stand even though it felt the ground had disappeared.

Before long he stood upon the Ridge and looked across the horizon. His eyes followed the dips and folds within the hills and over the sun’s reflections of streams and lakes squeezed within those hills.  He knew just like the