Mara's Race

Atop a towering, windy and rickety bridge Dukkah catches her breath, hands on her hips, feet unsteady beneath her. Eyes wide, she stares at the serpentine overpass strung together: frayed rope, panel after endless panel. Dizzying. Suddenly a deafening crash hits behind her and the loose slats pitch her tumbling headfirst. Crack! against the timber, momentum shoves her forward. There's no stopping now. The sky, the bridge and the canyon below are a kaleidoscope of white, blues, grays, browns and greens. Stomach sick, head pounding, propelled into something cold and slick that doesn't slow her bewildered blunder. Disgusting. Its slimy and stinks. It'll never wash out of her hair. She fears chaos will always rein. Rolling, rolling, rolling. Thud, thud, thud, the planks hard below her continue to drive her on.

Samma brushes dirt off her hands. She's tired from the trek up this mountain, and the twisting bridge before her is intimidating and daunting. But no matter, it will lead her down to the meadows below and reaching their sweeping relief is the task at hand. Samma looks farther up the mountain. Mara, as she has done before and will do again, begins to push a monstrous boulder off the ledge she stands on. Samma knows the boulder will crash down near her and then continue off and away. She braces herself as the boulder crashes down and for an instant she and the gigantic stone share the same space. The bridge reverberates violently beneath her. She grabs the guardrail and steadies herself. It's time to move. Swiftly she speeds down the rickety scaffold. Time has taken its toll on this frame but for now it will hold her. Samma meets a vast deep clay sludge in the middle of her path but luckily large rocks are intermixed and she's able to hop effortlessly from one to the next, until she is across. The bridge winds on, continuing its decent. The travel has been long but Samma has traveled this path many times and it's end is near. Thud, thud, thud, the planks hard below her continue to drive her on.

As Samma puts the canyon's bridge behind her, she drinks in the meadow's warm embrace. Eyes shift to Dukkah, whose head is in her hands. Crumpled, barely off Mara's course.
"Were you not ready for Mara's race?" Samma asks her stunned sister.
"It was a race?" She retorts "The whole time, I never knew. I thought it was real..." Eyes wide and pondering, she trails off.
Smiling, Samma offers her hand, "Heading through the meadows? Here, I'll show you where the stickers lie."

Reviews

[Coyote Poetry]

The story was amazing. I liked the way you made each situation come alive. I like the places and the struggled described. I liked how you ended the tale. I like surprise endings. Thank you for sharing the excellent short story.
Coyote

[Tina]

Thank you :)

[Coyote Poetry]

You are welcome.

[747]

Interesting way of telling the story through the connections of these three characters. Also interesting how all the characters were a part of this race, but each character had a vastly different role.

Good job.

[Tina]

Thank you :)