Victor lets out a deep sigh as he plops himself down on the side of the forest path.

He shifts the weight of his backpack off his shoulder as a wave of relief washes through his body.

Reaching for a brown flask, tied around his neck, he quickly pours it’s contents into his mouth as his dry throat pulses, absorbing the much needed rejuvention.

He wipes the sweat from around his face with the back of his hand as he can’t help but think to himself:

If this journey didn’t break his spirit and the elements didn’t claim his body, then this heat would surely drive his mind delirious.

He takes another swipe at his forehead with his hand, wiping away yet another bundle of sweat.

Victor glances back at the path he had come from, which now seemed nothing more than a long winding corridor of trees and leaves. He glances forward at the path he had yet to travel, and sees nothing but the same thing too.

He lets out another sigh as he closes his eyes, leaning against his backpack and drawing his straw hat low over his eyes, to shield them from the sun’s harsh gaze.

A quick break, to cool the body. What’s the least that could happen?

As the seconds begin to blur into minutes, Victor is alerted by a rustling of leaves to his left. From the way he had come.

He lifts his hat to see another traveller coming from the way he had came. Their head slightly lowered and looking down at the path they walked.

The traveller was a man that he recognized simply by the number of times he had seen him, but couldn’t quite recall his name.

“Off to the mountain again?” Victor shouts, catching the traveller’s attention as he lifted his head and gaze from the ground.

“As I always do.” the traveller answers warmly, coming to a stop, the traveller took a seat beside Victor as he sets his backpack down behind him too.

As the traveller’s bag clunked to the forest floor, Victor remembers how he had once asked what was inside, only to see it contained nothing but ropes and nails. The kind of gear one would use to climb mountains.

Victor had always felt a gentle familiarity from the man. He always wondered what it must be like to be such a kind and simple soul. Victor also recalls how he sees this man on this path almost every day now, making his way through the forest as Victor does.

But where Victor took his routine path to the next town and back, the stranger always took the path that led to the mountains instead.

Mom would always grind him for it. Victor thinks to himself.

Wait. Victor thinks. How’d he know that about a man he couldn’t name?

Victor suddenly realizes they had been sitting there in silence as he shakes his head and asks the traveller.

“Any luck reaching the top?”

“Not yet, no.” the traveller replies sheepishly, “To be honest I have yet to barely scale the bottom of it.”

The traveller lets out a hearty chuckle as Victor follows with his own.

“But you go every day, even if you make no progress on it?”, Victor asks.

“Well, every day I spend at the bottom, is another one I spend closer to the top, right?” the traveller answers with a grin.

“I guess so. But even still, have you nothing better to do than try to wrestle with a giant rock?” Victor jokes with the man.

The two share yet another brief moment of laughter.

But as the laughter subsides and silence fills the air once more, Victor asks the man in a more serious tone.

“Why do you do it?

Why do you subject yourself to the pain, every single day?

If not the pain of physically climbing the mountain, then the mental one of failing to.”

Victor shifts his eyes from the man, casting his gaze deep into the maze of trees before them.

“Why do you allow your body to crumble beneath the unbearable load of such an impossible task, when your mind tells you to just let it go?

Why do you so insisistently step into the cage with the Collector of Souls, and bet your life against his will. When you know it is only your blood that will be spilt?”

The traveller sits in silence for a moment before he chuckles and replies:

“Because our bodies were built to shape under pain. A teacher we are well equipped to learn from.

Because within us, I believe, beats more than just a heart and the organs that give us life.

I believe that within us beats an ability to conquer things that appear to be far beyond us.

I believe that within us churns the desire, to know what the world looks like from the view of the clouds.

I believe that within us beats the potential to seize the skies and tame the seas.”

The traveller stretches both his hands before him, closing his open palms into gentle fists.

“I feel within me, the ability to dream while wide awake. And forge that dream with these very hands.”

The traveller stands as he turns his head to glimpse the mountain above the trees.

Victor remains seated, his gaze still planted deep among the trees.

“I believe that if today, I do not set foot upon that mountain.

I will never know if tomorrow, I might finally stand atop it’s peak.”

Victor closes his eyes as a smile crosses his face.

What a marvelous answer, as always. Victor thinks to himself. Always the inspiring one of the family. Always the dreamer. Even till the very end.

And with that, Victor wakes.

Opening his eyes to find himself leaning against his backpack, his straw hat still drawn over his eyes.

He leans up and looks around him, seeing that the sun was almost at the same place it had been when he first sat down.

And the traveller, nowhere to be seen.

Not much than an hour this time.

Victor gets up and dusts off the dirt that had clung to his pants.

He reaches for his backpack, slipping and knocking it over. It’s contents spilling across the forest floor.

Victor whispers a curse as he begins gathering up all the ropes and nails that had fallen out, placing them back into his bag. He fastens everything down and secures the bag firmly over his shoulders. Making a quick turn to make sure he hadn’t left anything behind.

He lets out another deep sigh, gently shaking his head with a smile as his ears rang with the words of the traveller.

He then sets foot back onto the path before him.

The one he had yet to travel.

The one that led to the mountains.