Mount TBR 2015 discussion

I was working on Mt. Everest and it suddenly dawned on me I completely missed a mountain. I have no idea how and I apologize. I offer a silly story to make up for my error...

A loud yell came as I moved to continue up Mt Everest. Somehow, it didn't set off an avalanche or either books or snow and I calmed. What nuthead thought yelling on a mountain was a great way to keep breathing? Pausing, I turned to see a mountain librarian stalking my way.
"You missed a mountain," she said as she stopped beside me.
"I missed a mountain?" I asked, confused.
How did one miss something as large as a mountain of all things? It wasn’t like they could hide.
The woman pointed back the way I'd come. She did it with such sharpness, she nearly took out my nose. I looked in the direction of her point and saw she spoke the truth. There was indeed a mountain there. I'd missed one after all.
"Oops?" I offered, no other words coming to mind.
"So long as you can prove you did climb its equivalent, you won't be dragged back down to start over," the woman said.
A man appeared beside her so fast he might as well have simply popped in out of nowhere. I looked up and whimpered at the size of him. A mountain himself, he looked all too eager to do the dragging.
"Um, how?" I asked, doing my best to ignore Big and Scary.
The woman jabbed a finger toward another area. This time, she had no qualms about getting too close. Holding my nose to soothe the bang it just suffered, I looked to where she indicated. A man sat there, a dark glower on his face. I didn't blame him for the sourness as it was rather cold here.
"Your book log and accompanying pictures to prove your climb," the mountain librarian said.
"I have them," I said quickly.
Big and Scary stepped forward. He seized me by the back of my coat and guided me, none too gently, toward the desk. Feeling like a scuffed cat, I had no choice but to go with him. I only hoped he believed me about the log I presented to the man at the desk. He'd probably aim for all the sharp, pointy areas of El Toro for my error when he tossed me over to it.
"Your log and your book picture snaps, please," the man said, as if having a scruffed human-cat before him was normal.
"O-of course," I said, fumbling with my bag for the requested items.
Big and Scary didn't help much in his grip on me. I did my best to ignore him and carefully placed the things on the desk before the desk man.
"I'll examine these and be right back," he said.
"Take your time," I said, even as he wandered off. "I'm not going anywhere."



I waited nervously as the desk man checked my list and the pictures. Big and Scary stayed with me the entire time, hand still holding me.
"You're missing an image," the book checker, or whatever he was, said as he came back and sat down.
I checked the list, dragging my new appendage forward with me. The picture was there, just one big blur where the cover should have been.
"It didn't have one," I said, recalling the oddity of that book. "That's all the camera got. I promise I read it."
The man stared at me for a long moment. Finally, he nodded his satisfaction. Taking out a rubber stamp, he inked it and marked my list with a big happy face. Seriously? I blinked at the weirdness of it and looked back at him, unable to speak. He smiled, nodded to me, then closed up his log book and disappeared with an audible pop.
"Do not make mistake again," the hulk said, thick accent I didn’t think existed anywhere on Earth and choppy English making me wonder where he'd come from. "or you get bad seat to Mars."
"Mars?" I asked, alarmed.
"Nice planet. Little cold and barren, but you will like."
He released me abruptly, causing me to nearly fall over. As the hulk walked off, I noticed something I hadn't before. The man was green. Green?
"Aren't you supposed to be little?" I called, mind snagging on the clichéd image of the Martians as I realized what I'd faced in him.
The hulk just laughed. A swirl of snow then passed between us, obscuring him from view for a moment. The big little green man from Mars was gone when the snow settled at last. I decided not to say anything more and make him come back. I really didn't want to find out if he was little compared to the rest of his people. Instead, I crept back to where I'd been to find the book I'd dropped when he grabbed me.

Nice story Holli! I chuckled several times :)

Leslie wrote: "Nice story Holli! I chuckled several times :)"

Thanks! I'm glad you enjoyed it. :)

LOL! Great story. I didn't send the green man. I promise! :-)

Bev wrote: "LOL! Great story. I didn't send the green man. I promise! :-)"

Ok, I believe you. :-D And thanks! I had fun with it.