Mountain

By: Sinjin Jones

Reant and Werth both looked up simultaneously at the daunting task ahead, or rather above, them. They were greeted with the stagnant face of both destiny and destruction. This mountain they sought to scale had claimed over a million lives since its discovery a mere five years before the present. They both took deep breaths, attempting to mentally prepare themselves for the death they were certainly approaching.

* * *

Only one person had ever successfully scaled this mountain and lived to tell the tale. His name was Teran Ghen, a timid man of about medium stature and courage to fill a room. Teran was a devout follower of the Buddhist religion and was therefore seeking his path to enlightenment. On March the twenty-third of the year 2067 (two years ago, this being December 14, 2069) he began his ascent. He, like many of the first climbers, elected to climb alone (this was banned a year after the founding of the mountain, due to increased deaths, by International Law, but Teran’s parents were quite rich). The world doubted greatly his ability to reach the peak of this mysterious mountain; in fact his wife had already made arrangements for his burial.
At exactly 3:52 am on that day, Teran disappeared from the view of the anxious photographers and media and the world virtually held their breath for the next four days. You see, unlike your Everest, this mountain extends an astonishing 65,000 feet into the sky by best estimate, a height said to be impossible to survive for humans. Now, from your time you may ask how this is possible, for a mountain so vast to elude your satellites and technology. The simple answer is: it is invisible. To understand this, you will need to understand the history of your future.
I will begin by stating that in the year 2012 (December 12th) the third world war will begin. After many more problems arise in the Middle East region the United Nations will approve the invasion of that area by virtually all of its other members. While this happens your world will be drenched in darkness, economies the world around will collapse due to the increased funding for the invasion of all of the Middle Eastern countries. Everyone, at this time, will be ignoring the country you know as North Korea; who will be building an arsenal of nuclear devices. On April 27th of the year 2019 the North Korean government will launch a volley of 13 nuclear bombs (“atomic bombs”) across the North American continent, effectively eliminating the entire population of the countries you know as the United States and Canada. The backlash will leave North Korea decimated and very few countries with stable economical standing.
When the smoke clears and the fighting is over (the end of combat was marked on December 9th, 2023) there will be no countries able to produce nuclear devices, there will be no militaries or soldiers in existence (country will be able to afford to feed an army of any size), most major world religions will collapse (for all of the religious centers of the world will be ...

One day I'll post this entire story here, it's really short. I have heard that the interpretation of this story is different for everyone but it tells the story of Reant and Werth, two characters cimbing a recently discovered mountain on a higher plane of existence. The subplot revolves around what it means to die and it is a very ethereal story, I really enjoyed writing it.