"Richard Paul Russo - The Second Descent" - читать интересную книгу автора (Russo Richard Paul)

He remembers....

****

When he woke that morning, Yusuf wasnтАЩt in the tent. Rafael squirmed
out of his sleeping bag and crawled out into the gray, cloudy morning.

Yusuf stood a few meters away with his pack on his shoulders,
looking up toward the summit.

тАЬWhat are you doing?тАЭ Rafael asked.

тАЬIтАЩm looking for the city,тАЭ Yusuf replied. тАЬKuma-Shan.тАЭ

Rafael could see nothing above them but cloud and ice and rock. тАЬDo
you see it?тАЭ

Yusuf shook his head, then turned to gaze down the mountain. тАЬIтАЩm
leaving now,тАЭ he said.

тАЬWhere are you going?тАЭ

тАЬDown. To the base of the mountain.тАЭ

тАЬThatтАЩs where weтАЩre all going,тАЭ Rafael said.

Yusuf shook his head. тАЬIтАЩll be getting there a lot sooner than you will.тАЭ
 With that he started down the mountain, walking straight downhill
without regard to the terrain, yet never losing his footing. As he went, each
stride, while in appearance normal in length, took him increasing distances
down the mountainside so that before long each step traversed twenty
meters and more.

Down he went, never looking back, his form becoming smaller and
smaller, and when he reached the low clouds and fog, they drifted away,
slowly but steadily revealing the mountainтАЩs lower slopes.

To RafaelтАЩs dismay, those slopes went on and on and on.... Yusuf
was barely distinguishable now, a moving red spot against a vast expanse
of crystalline white mottled with streaks and patches of motionless dark
colors. Soon, all the clouds and mist had scattered, and Rafael could see
no end to the mountain, only a gradually increasing vagueness as his vision
became incapable of distinguishing anything at such great distances.

For some time now, RafaelтАЩs great fear had been that, when they
completed their second descent of the mountain, they would awaken the
next morning to find themselves once again just below the summit,
preparing for a third descent. That fear was now gone, replaced by one
darker and more terrifyingтАФthat the second descent would never end.