If you haven’t already done so, you might want to check out Part I of this series before continuing.
“How often do you come here?”
“Actually, I just discovered this place a couple weeks ago,” said Evelyn. “I had only been once before I talked to you at that party, but I just fell in love with it right away. I’m so glad I met someone else I could share this with.”
“So did you just take up rock climbing, or is it something you’ve been doing for a while?”
“Kind of both? I used to go all the time as a kid, but when I moved out here … I dunno. I guess I got all caught up in the new job and I didn’t have anyone to go with, so I just kind of let it slide. About a month ago I just got this killer desire to go rock climbing. Out of nowhere. So I did a little research and found this place and here we are! I’m so glad I found someone to go with!”
“Me too,” said Mandy. “I don’t know how I didn’t know about this place.”
“It just opened up a few months ago. Let me guess, you always go to the same place and you’re super loyal to it?”
“Yeah, I guess. I hadn’t really thought about it that way.”
“I was the same way when I lived in Seattle. That’s probably why it took me so long to get back into rock climbing after I moved here. I didn’t know where to go, and rather than just doing a simple Google search, I let myself be paralyzed with indecision.”
“Speaking of paralysis by indecision, you need to stop dawdling and go for that purple handhold on your right.”
Evelyn grinned sheepishly. “Thanks,” she said as she took her advice. From there, she quickly ascended the rest of the way up the wall. “I’m a little rusty,” she said as she slid down her rope to the floor.
“I can see that, but you’re not bad. You’ve clearly still got moves. How did you get out from under that overhang?”
“Oh, that’s easy. The trick is to let go with your feet and let your hands and the rope do all the work. Why don’t you give it a shot and I’ll coach you through it?”
“Would you? That would be awesome!” Mandy looked up, assessing the climb.
“Lesson number one: don’t think. Just do. If you let yourself think about it too much you can get yourself into all kinds of trouble.”
Mandy nodded and started up the wall.
To be continued …