She dangled precariously out over the ravine. Her arms ached from clutching the dead tree branch that had broken her fall. She could still hear the scattering of small rocks bouncing down the side of the cliff.

But had she really fallen or was she pushed? She took a deep, shaky breath, her heart pounding in her ears. Her fingers were white and her hands trembled, but she forced herself to turn her head just enough to look back up the sheer rock.

There he was, looking over the edge. An insidious grin stretched across his face. Before she could yell, the tree groaned and began to crack. Her support was giving way.

***

She scoured the cliff wall as she felt her weight shift with the breaking branch. There. As the dead roots began to snap, she wedged one hand and one foot into holds, clamping her body to the rock.

The dead tree shuddered and splintered, falling into the ravine. Her limbs quivered and a whimper escaped her lips. She glanced back up. He was no longer in sight. Had he pushed her?

She closed her eyes and forced herself to take a deep breath. No one else had been around at that lookout point. Hopefully he was already heading back down the path. She needed to get it together, if she was going to get out of there alive.

***

Eyes wide, she stared at the cliff wall, only an inch from her face. This was a real cliff. There was no safety harness. If she fell, it would be to her death. She needed to start moving as soon as possible – The longer she hung there, the weaker her grip would become.

She took a deep breath, refusing to look down into the ravine. Instead, she searched the rock for the next hold. There. She stretched and grasped one. Thank God there was one nearby.

Eying the vertical surface closely, she began to inch her way toward the ledge she had fallen from. Rather, the one he had pushed her from. Her hands and feet remembered the climbing routine she would put them through. But that was years ago. She could feel the strength in her fingers waver.

***

Each time she stretched for a new hold in the rock face, she had to commit. It was hard – Her brain was screaming that she was going to die. Commit. That word, it made her grind her teeth. Only weeks ago, he had made the commitment to love and to cherish her. What had happened to that? Why had he pushed her?

Anger washed over her, driving her already high adrenaline up several notches. Her tired fingers found new life and determination. She came to the point she had toppled from, reached up over the edge, and pulled herself up to the safety of flat ground.

Lying on her back and breathing hard, with limbs shaking, she listened intently for any sound indicating that he was nearby. Nothing. After several minutes, she slowly rolled over, scanning the area. No one in sight. Tears began to fill her eyes as reality hit.

***

She struggled to sit up, taking note of all her different scratches and bruises from the fall. Why did he push her? Why? She shivered and glanced around, even though she knew he was gone. Her friends’ warning about him echoed in her mind. At the time she had just brushed it off. They didn’t know him like she did, right?

But obviously they saw something in him she should’ve paid attention to. Placing her hands on a boulder, she shakily stood, knowing she needed to get moving. Help wouldn’t be coming. And for all she knew, he might come back. She turned to face out over the ravine.

The sun was beginning to set, its colors flooding the area that held potential death only moments before. A kind of glory seemed to permeate the air. The tremble in her limbs dissipated. This was where she used to always come. It was her special place to talk with Jesus. A vision filled her mind, of what her life could be like with true unconditional love, peace, and hope.

***

This post was inspired by the hope*writers May 2022 Instagram Writing Challenge daily word prompts.

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