By the light of our headlamps and distant lightning strikes, we trekked out from Tre Cime to the rock outcropping we had scouted earlier that day.
Darkness fell quickly, and scattered drops of rain began to land.
The landscape was cast a midnight blue, diverting to an electric lavender after every thunder. We took each step carefully, loose rocks and gravel below our feet tumbling down into the valley.
I had a vision for the creation and now it was time to execute.
I stepped up to the ledge, knees trembling. The torch on my head had indicated my path, yet it now only diminished into the void. A bolt of lightning emanating from my figure signifies the divergence from an isolated pursuit into a cosmos of creativity.
The storm drew closer, and my group began their way back to find cover as I continued to shoot the approaching fog. The trails of their lamps can be seen traveling half a mile down the slope.
The illuminated hostel in the distance beckoned us to get back quickly. and to my own demise, I did not listen.
I stood there behind only my tripod, fully exposed to the elements. The drizzle of rain turned quickly into a torrent, and I realized my mistake. I rushed to pack my camera into my bag, scrambling down the rock face to try and catch up with the others.
The floodgates opened, dirt turned to mud, every rock turned slick, the light on my headlamp sunk to a flicker. I had only the distant glow of the hostel and the ring of cowbells to guide me home.
As I stumbled along what I could make of the trail, it was very clear that I was in the hands of mother nature. and I would likely only make it to the light if she decided I was deserving.
I had reached the final incline toward shelter when I felt the hair on my head begin to rise. I looked through my fogged glasses to see an electrical pole, 20 feet in front of me, light up like a times square billboard. it was as if someone had unloaded a shotgun next to my ear. I stood waveringly in the electrified air, unsure of how to comprehend how close I had just come to being burnt to a crisp.
There’s nothing like a bolt of lightning nearly being sent through your body to open your mind to the cosmos.
End chapter one.
