Page 81 of Wandering in Darkness
“Left or right?” I ask.
“Either way, I’ll beat you to the top,” he says.
“So this is now a competition?” I eye the vicious incline that’s made up of mostly steps.
“Sure is. How about we flip a coin? If you flip it and it lands on heads, you have to do the stairs; if it lands on tails, you get the slope.”
“Alright, alright. What does the winner get?”
“The winner gets… to tell the other person one thing they have to do, and the loser will do it,” he says.
I stare at him.
So does… this mean I get another kiss if I win? One that isn’t a drunk kiss? But… does it really count if I have to win that kiss? Or is he doing this so that I can ask for it?
Grayson hands me the coin, so I flip it and glower at the head looking up at me.
“Well… I mean, at least you get the scenic route,” he says as he grins at the straight-up path.
Yes, it’s scenic, but it’s also dubbed Stairway to Hell for a reason.
“Trav, do you want to go up the stairway or the leisurely fun route?” he asks.
The dog puts one foot on the stairs before changing his mind and galloping off to the right.
“You ready?” Grayson asks. “Should I give you a head start?”
“You’re enjoying this far too much.”
“Me?” He has the nerve to pretend to be shocked. “Never.”
“Waytoo much.”
“Set.”
“Look at that grin. Have you ever grinned so hard in your life? Why do you love the misery of otherssomuch?”
“Go!”
I take off at a run, taking the uneven steps two at a time.
“Looking good!” Grayson calls as he leisurely walks up his slope. “Damn… I think I’m already out of breath.”
I want to glower at him on his leisurely stroll but I’m positive if I look away, I’m going to fall on my face.
I’m doing pretty good for the first part of it, but by the time I hit the halfway point, I realize that whoever created these steps hated life. Or maybe they hated their wife and were hoping she’d fall down them and roll to her demise. At three-quartersof the way up I get a text from Grayson, who I can no longer see, that says, “Oh man, I’m a little out of breath.”
My legs are burning. They’re considering what it’d be like to give up on me, and I’m questioning if I should just lie down right here and give up until someone finds me and carries me off the mountain. I mean… it has to be a mountain, right?
And just as I’m nearing the top, where Grayson stands looking down at me with a fucking grin on his face, I trip and smack down, barely catching myself. I couldn’t have fallen down at any other point, nope… I had to fall down while he was looking me in the eyes, here to see every second of the phenomenal smackdown.
“Oh shit… was my face so beautiful you thought you saw an angel and your legs gave up?” he asks, hurrying down to help me.
“Yes… yes, that’s what it was,” I mutter as I lie on the steps, panting up a storm. “Drag me… drag me the rest of the way.”
“You should have gone my route. It was so pleasant. I waved at a ninety-year-old woman on her way down.”
“Drag my corpse.”
