Short Story time!

Hey guys! I'm gonna give you a story to read today. I felt bad for loop holing it yesterday (by the way, I TOTALLY didn't go and play Mass Effect 2, I actually fell asleep after I posted that so...)

Anyways!



Mountaintops

The crisp mountain air filled his lungs as he took it in. He looked around at the mountain summits, in awe of the natural beauty of the mountain ranges. Everything was much more colourful here, it made you forget about the problems of the world. He couldn't help but smile. He set down his pack and rested on the mountain top a while. He took off his hat and let the gales gallop through his hair tossing it all over.

He leaned back and looked into the sky and began to ponder his life and the choices he'd made. He was 33 now and recently quit his job as a manager for a packing plant. He took his final pay and packed for this vacation. He had worked there for 12 years and they weren't happy to see him leave. He always felt the place had held him back from achieving his goals. Now he didn't have the safety net of his old job, he could take more risks.

He closed his eyes and listened to the sounds of mountains. The wind whipping around the peaks, the trees swaying in the breeze below, the occasional bird. He thoughts drifted to his family. He was married for 5 years now. The woman he married was gorgeous, but she too was upset when he left his job. "How will pay the bills?" was her constant reminder of how his life was tied up in credit cards and insurance and other monthly debts he had to pay off. She didn't work. Instead she volunteered and held parties and, in general, ate up his income. She hated travel and refused to join him on his vacation. 5 years of marriage apparently didn't add up to vacationing together.

He sat up now, annoyed that his thoughts had drifted from the scenery to the scene waiting for him when he got home. How could he enjoy his vacation if all he could do was think about his problems? He got away from the country, the city, from civilization to FORGET his woes. Instead he found himself dwelling on them in what should be one of his happiest moments. He had always wanted to climb a mountain and here he was. But instead of celebrating his accomplishment, he could only think about his financial problems.

He grumbled to himself and paced about along the plateau. He needed a new job, that was certain. He'd like to travel more. Maybe a job that allowed him to take in sights like he was right now.

The sound of talking came from a few feet down. He looked down the path to see a man and woman walking up the mountain talking about what risks would exist for real estate proposed at the bottom of the mountain. They stopped when they saw him staring at them.

"Well, hello there!" Came the man's cheerful greeting. "Not often we meet people up here."

"Hi. I was just on vacation. I always wanted to climb a mountain so..."

"Ah, I see. Check one thing off the ole bucket list eh?"

"Yeah." He looked the two up and down. "What are you two doing here? Do you come here often?"

"Well, not HERE but we do climb a lot of mountains." The woman chimed.

"We're environmental surveyors." The man added.

He stopped and thought for a second before asking his next question. "So you survey different natural environments and asses risk of development nearby?"

"You're a clever one." The man laughed.

"We don't JUST asses risk. There's a lot more to it than that but you seem to have the jist of it." The woman added.

"I see." He paused a moment. "Just one more question. Do you mind if I watch you work?"