Hunza: No Way Home

A trip back home that might just last forever.

It had been no less than 14 hours since Rehan had set foot in the lovely village of Hunza, bordered by great green mountains, fed by the cleanest streams brushing glass-blue glaciers. And now, it was pitch dark, and he was in a ditch.
“So you’re telling me to climb?”
“Yes! Good!”
“With this vine? This right here?” Rehan shook the vine. It swung, then slapped back with a wet thud.
“Yes!”
“This very one?...”
“....yes”
“Haha, ok,” he screamed into his hands, as the thunder above roared loud enough to shake his bones, muffling his pleas to God.
He jammed one sneaker into the muddy wall until it stopped sliding. Gripping the vine, he dug his fingers into its slimy surface and pulled with all his might.
The vine swung wildly, but held.
Holy shit, this might work?!
One foot, then the other. Mud flew. Rain pelted down. He climbed.
“Yes, see? Easy!” Hassan clapped over the rain.
Easy…easy peasy…I got this…haha
My heart thumped. Sweat and rain soaked through my jacket and socks.

Rip
……
My Pants?

Worse, Life smiled, the vine.
And then I began to fall.

I miss you mom.

[50 miles away in a car]
“Darling, I DO NOT know what you are talking about. The map said LEFT two freaking streets ago. WHY are we back here?!”
“I told you LEFT. You took a RIGHT. You’ve been taking RIGHTS!”
“Say, why don’chyall ask that lo’ely man up yonder? Sir! Sir, my dau’gher got us all turned 'round an’—”
“Mom! Put that window back up! Cynthia, stop crying for God’s sake!”
“I wanna go to the mountains too!”
“RIGHT! RIGHT!”
“AGHHHH!”

[Back at the ditch]


I was pulled up over the edge, my joints nearly torn apart by that behemoth of a pull.
“We made it!” Hassan celebrated.
I laughed too, a tear rolling down my cheek.
“The treehouse is right up there!”
Dragging myself forward with a possibly-dislocated shoulder, I muttered, “You know, Hassan, maybe we should just… play some board games or something? I mean, with all this rain, maybe the electricity goes out, and...”
“.....Are you scared?”, he smiled.
I smiled.
The thunder roared.
We went on.

“An’ then I tells the man, ‘Now it’s all good an’ dandy,’ but he jus’ kept them pebbles in that damn room, yammerin’ on ‘bout some ol’ friends we don’t see anymore since the war—an’ look here, Cynthia, darlin’, I may be wrinkled, but I damn well know who’s who an’ what’s what—”
“Mom, I wanna go pee.”

“It’s locked!”, I screamed.
“Yes…but I have this!”, and then my wonderful cousin proceeded to pull out a straight razor from his pocket.
“.....”
“We climb on tree. We cut vine and jump like monkey. We enter open window.”
“…..”

“STRAIGHT! THEN RIGHT!”
“An’ then I put a barrel to her cousin’s head, looked him square in the eye, and I said—‘Sugar, if you think I won’t pull this trigger in heels-’”
“Welcome to WatchMojo~” Thunder. Blackout.