Her Side of the Mountain

A story about letting go.

     Once upon a time there lived an old woman in a cave. Her cave was far up on a mountain overlooking a great valley. Every night the old woman would come out of her cave with a bowl of soup and look out over the valley while she ate her dinner. The old woman remembered living in the valley long ago when she was young. Sometimes the old woman would cry when she remembered her mom and dad, her sisters with their long golden hair and pink cheeks, her school and all her friends. The old woman would think about the now empty, tall buildings, the once busy highways and crowded shopping malls. She would think about the noise her television and radio made. The noise of her phone and everyone else's, the day Death came to the valley. But she escaped to the mountain where death could not find her.

     One evening, while eating her soup she heard a crashing sound on the mountain just below her. Then she heard a cry for help. The old woman froze with shock.

“Help me!” came the voice from below

“No.” she said softly in the dark

“Help me, please!” the voice pleaded

The old woman stood suddenly, her bowl falling to the ground. She turned and walked towards the mouth of her cave.

“Please help me! I think my leg is broken and I’m bleeding.”

The old woman stopped walking. Without turning around, she spoke again as if speaking into the cave.

“I know who you are. Why don’t you leave me alone?” she said into the dark before her.

“Please help me! I don’t think I can make it much longer.” came the plaintive voice again.

The old woman marched to the edge of the mountain. Shaking with fear, her hands balled up on either side of her head, she yelled down into the darkness.

 “I know who you are! 

“Why don’t you just leave me alone!”

“Look! Lady, I don’t know who you think I am, but I’m going to die soon if you don’t help me.” the voice said in obvious pain.

“Ha!” scoffed the old woman

“You are Death!” she yelled down the mountain.

“You took my family. You took everything that mattered! Well, you ain’t taking me. No, sir! with that said, she walked away to sleep in her cave.

That night the old woman heard the pleading in her dreams and her sleep was troubled.

     The next morning the old woman awoke to the smell of coffee and bacon. Wrapped in a tattered blanket, she made her way out of the cave just as the sun was rising. Beside the fire sat a young man in a tracksuit, the kind her father would wear when she was a little girl. His hair was long and dark. His handsome face was clean shaven.

The man gestured to her

“Come sit down. Have some coffee.” he said.

 The old woman sat on the ground by the fire and accepted a steaming mug from the beautiful man.

“Ain’t you supposed to be dying?” she grumbled 

The man forked a piece of bacon from the sizzling pan, took a bite and then gestured to her with the remains.

“Why..” he started but had to deal with the sizzling hot bite before he could continue

“Why are you so afraid of me?” he asked

The old woman didn’t answer. She just sipped her coffee and softly cried.

“Why the tears, Stephanie?” the man asked

“I want to live.” she said finally

“I want to live!”

“Don’t you see that?”

Death stood up, stretched his arms out wide and yawned.

“I saw you.” he said

The old woman looked up from her steaming cup of coffee and focused on his handsome face.

“What?” she asked, looking confused

“I saw you.” he repeated

“When the bombs were falling and your people evaporated. I saw you hiding in the basement with your dog.” 

The painful memory of that morning, her lost family and of her long dead Pitbull showed in her faded green eyes.

“You’re a b*****d.” she said without vehemence

“Anyway” he said

“You didn’t escape death. You just just survived everybody you ever knew...for a while.

“Hey, you should really try this bacon, Steph.” Death suggested and then smiled.

“The fatty bits are the best.”

The young lady separated the fat from the lean, giving the scraps to her whining little Pitbull sitting patiently beside her. 

Death sat down and poured another cup of coffee.