Thirty

“Why do I always let you talk me into things like this?” I groan as I dangle by a thin rope on the side of a large indoor rock wall. I’m not sure how james had convinced me to do this, but somehow he had and now I was fifty feet in the air clinging to a small metal handhold.

James looks down at me from his spot a few feet above me. “You love it,” he teases.

“Do I?” I retort back.

“Well,” he amends. “You love me.”

“You’ve got this Ali!” Annie yells up at me.

I glance down at her, praying that she’s strong enough to stop me from falling, and give her a weak smile. She’d thought it was a great idea when james had suggested it, saying that there was a large waterfall a few hours away that we could climb and this would be great practice.

“You can do it baby,” James encourages. “Just a few more feet and then we can drop down.”

“What do you mean drop down?” I ask in a panic. “Dropping is the last thing I want to do!”

“Ali breath,” James tells me calmly. “It’s ok.”

Closing my eyes, I