[ CW ] `` ... flip to page 43 of a dictionary and take the first word and run with it . ''

Alpinist, thats what my neighbor said he was. I guess he was a mountaineer since he climbed other mountains than just the Alps, but he liked to start conversations about how he would climb mountains when he was young. At 30 his first climb was the Manaslu, at 34 he conquered Cho Oyu, at 38 he stood atop the actual Alps, 45 he scaled Kilimanjaro and at 50 he failed Everest. 
 
 He was an older man around his late 70's when he told us these stories at scout camp, you could see the glimour of accomplishment in his eyes when he told you of the unending views at the top. Every year he would tell us. His mind was fading so he never remembered that he did it all the time, but we did n't mind the only thing we accomplished was swimming and tying knots. Every year he told us, every year he got that glimmer in his eyes, and every year a new kid would ask about Everest. How do kids know what button to push, let alone care what this man had or had not done? But every time he would sit quietly and reflect, the pride left his eyes, and the excitement left his voice. 
 
 One year he finally told us about Everest. It was n't exciting like the other mountains but rather somber and so silent I could hear my own heartbeat. He told us about dead bodies that were left there, he said that they were like snail shells when the slugs left them, delicate and hollow. They probably had names, friends, families, but nobody would remember, and nobody would help them down and would ever be seen again. He was choking up when he told us about those bodies, he said that he cried every night and the tears would freeze to his face, and he wanted to go home to see his wife and two sons, but he kept climbing. It took him six days to get near the top, and they were 50 yards away when they they turned back because of bad weather. He saw those dead bodies that were left behind because somebody selfish wanted to go a little higher, and said when he got that close he said he could feel something inside of him that would leave his group in the cold to die. He never climbed another mountain after he felt that, and he never told us any more mountain climbing stories either.
