Runaway Bride – Part 3

Posted on: November 16th, 2008 By: Shen-Li

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Part 2

The morning sun was hidden behind the tall rocky face before her and the salty, sea breeze felt refreshingly cool as it whipped through her hair. She checked the figure eight knot on her harness and brushed the sand off the soles of her shoes. Chalking her hands, she turned to call out over her shoulder to her belayer, “Climbing.”

The roughened limestone surface of the rock face felt like sandpaper against the smoothness of her hands. Although in reality it had only been a couple of months since she last climbed but her body felt foreign and unbalanced on the rock, while her brain struggled to comprehend the unfamiliarity. Even the smoothness of her hands betrayed her, for the callouses had healed and the rocks felt unusually rough against her fingers. She felt heavy and clumsy and it was almost as if she could feel the weight of the pineapple pancakes she had eaten for breakfast. Or could it be the added weight from the pregnancy that weighed her down?

As she climbed, she panted and grunted – all the while, her brain kept telling her the mistakes of her moves. It was as if she had forgotten how to think, how to analyse the surface of the rock to make the moves that required the least effort. Or was it because her mind was clouded, filled with guilt that today was supposedly her wedding day and she was thousands of miles away with no explanation of where she was to the groom or anyone else?

Sarah squashed the nagging thought in her mind and kept climbing. She tried to empty her mind by concentrating on the sound of the waves lapping the shore behind her and the soft jingling of the runners hanging from her harness like little bells as they swung from side to side with her movements. As she continued to climb, she began to feel lighter as her worries fell away replaced with only the awareness of the rock beneath her.

That was what she loved about climbing – no matter how troubled she was, it was hard to think about anything else but the rock. So what if she was not climbing as smoothly as she once did? So what if she was panting and her arms were burning from the build up of lactic acid? She felt alive like she had not been for months. As her body eased into the motions and she began to relax, the movements began to feel smoother. Instead of jerky, uncertain moves, she began to flow across the rock – like water on the rocks. It was just like riding a bike – one never really forgets how it is done even if it felt a little wobbly the first time getting back on after a long time.

Climbing was her element. There was nowhere else that she truly belonged the way she did on the face of the rock. Agreeing to marry Daniel had been a moment of temporary insanity, and she realised that now that she was at home again. She had been away from the rock for too long and time had made her forget, but now the memories were surging back like water released from a dam. She was never intended for a normal life – what was normal anyway?

Sarah reached the anchor, hooked in her safety slings and yelled down to her belayer, “Safe!” She threaded her rope through the anchor and called to be lowered. Although she had started off poorly, she had ended the climb on a high note and she could not hide the smile of delight that twitched at the corners of her lips as her feet touched the ground.

Jon’s grin mirrored hers as he released the rest of the rope to give her some slack. “I was wondering for a moment what had happened but you did great the rest of the way. It’s just like old times.” His fingers had brushed her back and she looked up into his eyes. It was like they had travelled back in time, but Sarah quickly turned her eyes back to her feet and began to remove her shoes and untie her figure eight knot.

Jon had been her best friend since they first attended primary school together and were paired up as rock climbing partners. They both loved to climb and from that passion grew a deep friendship that continued on through to adulthood. Even after the classes had ended, they continued the climbing as religiously as Sunday school. Although nothing had ever happened between them, there had been a few close calls. Usually after a few too many drinks when either Jon or she had broken up with their latest “shirt”. It was their private joke to refer to their exes as old “shirts” and that it was time to change and go shopping for a new one.

It was no surprise that she had called Jon immediately after she decided to skip town and get away for a few days. Even though she had not seen him for a couple of months, owing to all the time she had been spending between work and Daniel, she still knew he would be there for her when she called. It was just as she had always been there for him whenever he called her. It was unspoken. It was understood. They had a bond that ran deep, like the blood that connected two siblings.

Although Sarah had only planned to disappear for a few days until the wedding had passed, it was Jon who had suggested climbing at Krabi. Sarah did not know how he had managed to get the leave off work but he was packed and ready to leave by the following morning. It had taken them nearly an entire day to get to Krabi and the journey had been exhausting given her current condition, but the friendly smiles of the locals and the relaxed atmosphere of the place made it all worth the while.

They continued climbing until the sun began to set over the horizon, then packed up for the day and headed back towards their chalet.

“I’m starved!” Exclaimed Sarah. “Let’s eat first before we wash up.” Almost as soon as she said it, she remembered that Daniel would have objected to going to dinner “dirty”. Then she relaxed. This was Jon. Jon had no problems eating in their grubby climbing attire.

Sarah ordered Phad Thai noodles and a coconut shake – her favourite meal whenever they came to Krabi to climb. As she sat back and waited for the food to arrive, they talked about the day’s climbs and laughed over the old memories that resurfaced in between their discussions.

Jon chuckled, “To see his face when he discovered he was still anchored to the last bolt! It was hilarious!” Then he sobered up and took her hand. He shot her a piercing look and cocked his head to one side as he asked, “What happened to us?”

Sarah who had been smiling fondly over the memory pulled her hand back in surprise. She returned his gaze, then shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly. “I don’t know, Jon. I really don’t know.”