The Rope

Will you be the one to catch her when she falls?

 

Imagine somebody is standing in an enormous warehouse, both in length and width. She has a rope in front of her, that is tied somewhere in the dark ceiling. She is not alone in the building. Every person that she loves in her life is in there, surrounding her. Her parents are there, so are her siblings, as well as her friends, her colleagues, her teachers, her other mentors, even enemies she still cares about and of course, maybe the man she is in love with. The rope is in front of her, waiting to be tugged on by her weight. She takes hold of the rope and begins her ascent. This ascent stands for all of her struggles, her battles, her troubles, her challenges and life situations. She uses the power in her muscles, the determination in her mind, strength of her heart and the faith of her soul to climb and to succeed. All of these people she loves are watching her, holding hands, speaking words of encouragement to one another, and praying for her safety.

 

She starts to get tired, but continues on. She knows that if she gives up, her hands will be loosened from the rope. If her hands loosen from the rope, she will fall. So she pushes herself to her furthest limit and she keeps climbing. Sweat is dripping down her face, and exhaustion is setting in. She closes her eyes and stops for just a moment to breathe. The old advice is to not look down when one is at a high point. But she looks down…and though she is afraid of falling, she sees the faces of the people she loves. Merely seeing their faces refuels her energy and the love flows through her whole body, like a life support system. And she climbs still.

 

But at one point, she is not looking well enough, and her hand does not clasp the rope. She slips down a foot or two, but her hands grasp the rope once again. She must start climbing again from that point she fell to. Her friends and family are looking up in fear, wondering if she is going to fail. But she takes a deep breath, and reassuring herself of faith within, she continues to climb.

 

It is getting darker the higher she gets. But her faith inside herself assures her that she is almost to her destination. She cannot quite see where she is going, but she still feels the rope in her hands. The rope is getting more and more taut in her hand, and that signals to her that she is almost at her goal.

 

She looks to her right side, and there is a platform that provides a big pitcher of water and a glass. There is a plate of delicious food there, waiting to be gobbled by our champion of a young woman. She looks up and squints a little. There is the knot that ties the other end of the seemingly endless rope.

 

She pulls herself onto the platform, and lies there for a moment. She is on her back, with her eyes closed and her arms outstretched beside her. She cries her tears of pride and relief, knowing that her task is over. The ones she loves are down at the bottom, knowing that she is there, because the rope is no longer moving with her weight on it. She looks to her left, seeing the light from below, where everybody is. She smiles, her love for them overwhelming her. But there is something she wants to know, and must test out. If the answer is what she is looking for, then the ones she loves will embrace her. So she stands up and looks over them. Her arms are outstretched to her sides again. And she braces herself for what she is about to do next. And when she jumps, she closes her eyes, not wanting to see the shock and terror in their faces.

 

If they catch her, she will open her eyes and see who caught her when she fell. If they don’t, she dies unloved from these people and all the work she has done is gone unappreciated by them. So the question lies with you…do you think they caught her? Or do you think merely made way for her falling body? And why on earth wouldn’t she just catch hold of the rope to stop herself in case they don’t catch her so she can climb again?

Reviews

Wow, that's a bit intense! and alternative... Wasn't quite sure where it was going at first, and it's good that you left the reader with a question, but perhaps it would be useful to give a bit more insight? Just my opinion though- generally I think it's a good write :) And it's quite hard hitting and dramatic- and we all love a bit of drama :P x

[Courtney]

very dramatic and great imagery. the last sentence sort of takes away from the whole "meaning" in my opinion, and besides a few misplaced commas, I would only edit a few things: I would be more specific with the "other mentors" part or just take that out. Also, the reader feels like she is one of the watchers, but the part where her vision falters and she slips could be much more dramatic. Make it more action and less passive, so that the reader gasps and hopes she catches herself. Other than these things, it's a really cool idea!

[Venompen]

woah... that ending threw me a bit.

[DarkAngelWriter]

Shiiiiit. At first, I thought the girl had the rope to hang herself. But hell, this is so much better. F*****g b***h... don't ask me questions! You know better than that!

[Pj]

Crikeys- so intense...brilliant! The extended metaphor was wonderful!
I loved all the questions that this begged of us as the responders...it really made me think and realise the depth of a relationship and the expectations that comes with it.

A fantastic in depth write...you did it perfectly and strongly and conveyed your messages and thoughts well :D