Arctic



Комаров Максим Александрович. 9 лет.
ESCAPE

Before I took part in the Expedition through the Arctic, I had lived by a schedule. In the Arctic you lose sense of time.
Having 24 hours of sunlight we could start our hiking at what we thought was 3 PM but it was actually 3 AM.
Our entire being was focused on one thing: survival.
That day or night (I can’t say for sure) I was on polar bear watch while the others were sleeping. I didn’t have to fall asleep so I looked outside for some fresh air and came face to face with ...

an old man. He had white hair and white beard, but there were no wrinkles on his face. He was wearing a long fur coat and had a stick in his hands.

‘What are you doing here?’ asked the stranger.
‘We are travelers and we want to climb this mountain,’ said I and pointed to the huge mountain in front of us.
The old man smiled. His smile was so wide that I could see his white teeth. I thought it was rather strange for an old man to have good teeth.

‘Do you know the name of the mountain?’ asked the old man.
‘No,’ answered I.
‘It’s called the Cursed Mountain,’ whispered the stranger.
Bill and John woke up while I was talking to the old man.
‘Why is the mountain called so?’ Bill wondered.
‘The mountain is very dangerous. Many explorers wanted to climb it but no one succeed.
It is impossible to climb the mountain, it is cursed,’ explained the man.
He became very sad. The old man closed his eyes and began to sing.
‘What are you doing?’ asked I.
‘I am praying for those travelers. Don’t try to climb the mountain. You are too young for death,’ said he.
Bill and I kept silence. The old man’s story horrified us.
‘Stop talking silly things! May be it is difficult to climb this mountain for you, because you are too old but we are young and can do everything we want!’ shouted John. He was very angry.
‘Your life - your choice. But remember: nothing lasts forever,’ said the old man and disappeared.
As for me, I was frightened.

‘May be the old man is right? He is so old and wise …’ Bill whispered.
‘Oh, Bill! How naive you are! The old man knows nothing, he is too old. Take our bags. We shall start our climbing right now,’ shouted John.
I was tired and I did not have rest, but I obeyed. We took our bags and started climbing. The sun was shining so brightly that it was easy to get a sunburn.
I thought about the old man.
I remembered his wide white smile and his brown face. We did not talk to each other because the wind was blowing and it was difficult even to breathe. It was very difficult to climb because the snow was very heavy. Suddenly we heard a strange noise.

‘What is it?’ Bill wondered.
‘Nothing serious, it’s just wind,’ John replied.
The noise became louder. We raised our heads and saw a huge snow wave. We started running but the snow wave was coming so fast that soon I fell down. I felt snow in my mouth and felt terrible pain in my leg. I closed my eyes…
When I opened my eyes I saw a wide white smile of the old man.
‘Where am I? What has happened? Am I alive?’ asked I. I saw Bill and John. They were laughing. Then John came up to me, he put his hand on the old man’s shoulder.
‘Kiotu saved us. He found us at the bottom of the mountain. How could I be so rude to him! Kiotu, excuse me again! Just imagine, he is 105 years old but he is so brave and strong!’ exclaimed John.
‘It’s all right. It was a pleasure to help you,’ answered Kiotu.
I told this story to my friends and relatives.
I promised my parents that it was my last expedition.

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