The Cliff

Could I stand at that ledge forever, lost to time, just watching the waves crash upon the rocks? It wouldn't be right to turn back after climbing so high, but its still terrifying to leap off.

So why climb, why aspire so high in the first place? We are taught that to achieve what we want we must climb. But what if we don't find another mountain to conquer on the other side to take us further skyward, but rather a cliff to halt our progression? Unable to climb further, I seem to have plateaued and the only safe bet is to turn back, to try another path to achieving success.

And yet I can't seem to turn back yet. I've worked so hard to get here I don't want to give up. At least I'd like to enjoy my own personal glory for a bit. Have you ever tried to accomplish something only to stop when you knew that you couldn't go any further? To see that no matter how hard you work at it, you still can't climb any further because your path is gone. The only thing left on your ascent toward the sky is the blue sea stretched below. Its vast and rough and you know that if you fall it'll swallow you whole and spit your tattered corpse onto the rocks.

But if you stand long enough at that cliff you'll eventually need to look up to see the goal stretched above you. That was my desire anyway - to reach the sky. And I see the birds, the masters of the sky, as they soar from the mountain into the heavens. And I realize how the great ones really climb to the heights we find them today. The trail becomes, not a test of survival, but rather one of devotion. And to get to the very pinnacle you need complete devotion: to give yourself entirely to your aspirations. But there's still the dread of falling as I stand at the ledge. To make that last leap only to find failure - that is what's truely frightening. To know that once I jump its all up to Chance to stop me from crashing onto those jagged rocks. Chance, Hope, and a little bit of Luck.

Because the best don't climb after all. They fly





so ends another Tale from Blood Talon Cove