All Downhill From Here

The wind was harsh on his face, the cold cruel on his joints, but he persisted. He knew something was beyond the mountain and if he could only conquer it things would change for him.

He was crying now, all his capacity for regulating his emotion gone. He had held everything in for so long, but the exhaustion had beaten him down.

Then he was there.

The peak.

He looked at the view, relief overwhelming him, the tears beginning to dry in the fresh mountain air.

They said going downhill was much easier.

And it was all downhill from here.