Skier’s nightmare

Here is a story about a guy no older then thirty-five. His name was long and had such a proper sound, so people choose to call him Eddy of Rogers town. Eddy had thick black hair that always fell in his face; he refused to cut it and didn’t care what you had to say. His eyes were grey like the clouds in the sky but glowed like the moon at night.1

Eddy was loved by everybody in town. The little people, the tall, the strong people, the very odd, Eddy was loved by all. Yet there was one person that loved Eddy the most, it was his very faithful girlfriend, Erica the odd.2

See Erica’s bright red hair made her stand out from the rest. Her bright blue eyes even shamed the deepest oceans. She dreamed of being a cook in a fancy place, none the less. The thoughts that ran through her head would scare the bravest man to his resting bed. Yet for some reason these two feel in love, a match made in heaven forced to live on earth. I know what you are thinking such a sweet story to tell but little do you know we haven’t started at all. 3

Now here is something you might know about our friend Eddy of Rogers town. All though he loved his girlfriend truly, his heart really belonged to the slopes. From birth everybody in Rogers town knew Eddy was a skier. There was no mountain steep enough for him or no cold, Eddy could handle them all. From short mountains to high ones, ones covered only in snow to those with life living on them.4

That’s not at see what Eddy loved more then skiing down slopes at the highest speed was competing in every contest he could find. In hopes of winning that shinny gold. From downhill races to Parallel slalom, Eddy could do it all. Nothing was to challenging for Eddy of Rogers town.5

With every race that came his way, Eddy won each of the strong. Yet even with gold on his neck and the love on his arm Eddy was unhappy with this all.6

Eddy wanted something more, something greater. Eddy didn’t want to be a winner or champion but a legend. In the mind of Rogers town, Eddy already was but that wasn’t good enough for Eddy.7

So on a particular sunny day and quickly made a choice. He ran to tell Erica of this great thought that danced in his head. Only she would understand, Eddy thought. The moment Eddy saw Erica he raced to her and said at the top of his lungs. “I’m going to ski down Dead Man’s Mountain!”8

“Are you Insane? Even the name tells you to stay away! Only badness could come from this!” From happy to angry, Eddy was hurt by Erica’s lack of faith. She tried to protest that it wasn’t a lack of faith but a grand of logic.9

“Please, don’t this; I can’t bare to see you hurt.” As Erica pleaded with every ounces of her heart, Eddy shook his head.10

“I’m going down that mountain on fourth of October and nothing you say can change my mind.” Eddy crossed his arms in victory, for he thought he had won.11

Erica shook her head to force out the words that burned her tongue. “You do this stupid act and we are done! I’ll be gone before you even touch the mountain’s ground.” 12

Eddy thought for a minute, could he really choice between a dream and his dream girl. Should he risk everything for one moment in time of happiness that will soon be a vague memory? Eddy knew the right answer but didn’t care. He looked straight in Erica’s crystal eyes and said “I’m sorry; I hope to cross your path, again.” Eddy left, leaving only silence and misery behind.13

Even though this moment hurt him so, he couldn’t help but smile at the thought of going down a mountain, no man came back from. Eddy would be the first to come back, taming the wildness of a snowy death trap.14

The day came to ski down the slopes. His heartbeat faster then ever before, his sweat was like ice as it dripped down his face. Bundled up in a jacket with his skies beneath and sticks in hand he took one glance around. So many people had come to see him. Hundreds you could even say but not the one person he wanted. It was true, Erica the odd, had moved on.15

Anger, pity and happiness filled him all; he couldn’t sort through them at all. He wondered what he should feel at the greatest moment in his life. He took the chair lift up, up and up. All the way into the clear blue sky, until he felt the coldness of the top hit him like bricks. He stood staring down dead man’s mountain, thinking, believing that they would rename that mountain just for him. No longer would it be dead man’s mountain but Eddy of Roger town’s mountain, or something a little shorter could work as well. Without anymore thoughts, concerns, eddy let go of everything and began down. Faster, and faster he went, like a blur, you wouldn’t believe.16

Half-way down it seemed like he was still breathing. Holding strong like no man had every before but that wouldn’t last long. There in the center of the mountain was a red line, he couldn’t see it every well. Then he saw it, a blood red ramp just waiting to be ridden.17

The blood red ramp called his name, Eddy it whispered has he came closer. The snowy became whiter, the trees greener, then sky was bluer. Eddy held his breath, his heart stopped beating, the moment his skies touched that ramp, time seemed to stop.18

Like trapped in a picture, Eddy was frozen time. The world seemed at peace just at that time, everything seemed to make sense.19

But in that time of peace, Eddy lost all thought. He couldn’t control his moves, his direction, he had no control. From the blood red ramp, he fell off, straight toward a cliff. The same cliff that had claimed so many lives just before his. With a quick glance back, Eddy saw a worse fear. The mountain had heard his screams and came to follow him down that death.20

You ask now what has happened to Eddy of Rogers town. Did he die? Did he survive? Yes, Edward James Harris, had been the first to come home alive but at a price. Eddy awoke in the cold white sterile hospital room. He could not remember anything, from the jump to the fall. The room around gave him a cold feeling of hopelessness and smelled of death himself.21

Did he go down? Did they come up to find him? Was he even still alive? Was this room heaven or hell? All these thoughts ran through Eddy’s aching mind.22

Eddy laid still in his bed until a tall, dark doctor walked into the room. Eddy squints his eyes; Dr. Murphy it read in white letters across the purple tag.23

Dr. Murphy could not be younger the fifty-five. Only gray hair covered the edges of his head. Small glasses sat on the tip of his nose instead of in front of his brown eyes.24

Yet it was not that all his face held a worry that broke Eddy soul. Dr. Murphy took off the small glasses and placed them in his pocket. Take a deep sigh before he told Eddy final fate.25

“You fell off the ramp and down a cliff. You laid so badly, snow fell after you causing you to be buried under the world itself. I’m sorry to tell you, we had to take your leg, the left one of the two. There was nothing more we could do.”26

In that day Eddy really lost it all. His only friend, his only love he left for nothing but a broken leg. So now Eddy lives alone in his dreams, of what might have happened if he had picked the girl over a dangerous dream.27

Maybe he would still have his leg, and still going down slopes grabbing that gold. He would be married to Erica with four little kids. He knew it that for sure. Their names would be Jamie, Jackie, Eric and Dan, three boys and a little girl; he could see it all. In a large blue house they would call home in the center of Juneau, Alaska. Those kids would ski just like their old man. Everything was picture perfect but only in his mind.28

The truth of it now is just this simple; Eddy is a name in a sad story that never ends well.29