Chapter 111 - 111. The Best Obstacle

The stairs were plain and simple. There were no hidden tricks or traps, just brutal leg numbing training. The mental aspect was that they were constantly climbing high above the ground the descending, it would make anyone with a fear of heights cringe.

"Ugh, this is worse than hill sprints in gym class." Asher could only feel the burning in his legs intensifying. The odds of him being able to walk the next day were slim. Instead, he would look like his legs were made of jelly.

"I knew I was going to catch you!" Jackson had finally caught up to Asher with his superior pace. In the blink of an eye, he had stridden past Asher.

"Aren't these trees amazing? They have to be over a hundred maybe two hundred years old to be strong enough to support all these stairs and downward paths."

Jackson had been marveling at the strength of the trees so much so that the height of the stairs he was on was ignored. "Oh yeah...the trees are great man." Asher had no idea how to reply to Jackson so he just kept up his née pursuit.

'This set looks like it's going higher than the others. And I don't see another set of a path going down.' Asher was trying to guess what was waiting for them at the highest set of stairs yet.

They two were quickly climbing what proved to be the largest tree in the forest that they had seen. When they finally broke above the tree tops they found that there was a large platform resting only on this tallest tree.

"Made it here almost in a pair. Why were you racing?" Dia and Laura were already on top of the platform.

"OK I know Laura is faster than us and would beat us to the top without breaking a sweat, but how are you here?" Asher and Jackson were both wondering how the counselor had beat them when they were running the entire time.

"That offer right there." Dia pointed to a ladder fixed to the tree trunk leading to the platform. "I just need to run to the tree in a straight line then climb. I was here well before you. When my staff is here to help I will sunbathe up here between campers." She sounded so proud of this.

Laura was bouncing in excitement, this looked like the obstacle she had been waiting for the most. "Let's do this, it's the best part. I promise." She was looking eagerly at Dia who softened a bit since this was her favorite too.

"Alright here is the next obstacle. Hold on and don't fall. That's it. Oh and if you fall you will land in the muddy water below." She grabbed a handle and reached upwards. With a snap, it hooked on to a wire line the two boys hadn't even noticed.

"We are going zip lining!? That's so cool. Where is the harness?" Asher was too naïve and was looking for the general safety equipment that would attach him to the handles.

"Harness? Why would we have those? You hold on or you fall in muddy water. That's it." Asher and Jackson both held Dia with a blank stare.

"Oh, I knew that. We just hold on, right Jackson?"

"Yea Asher, it was obvious. We just hold on and everything will be fine."

The two held perfectly monotone voices after hearing that the zip lining was another crazy obstacle. "I think I might prefer the stairs again." Asher just rubbed his sore legs in sadness.

"So who is going first?! It's a lot of fun." Laura wanted to go herself but she knew the boys were actually challenging the obstacle course and she refused to take away the fun of the zip line from them.

Asher snapped his head up, "Jackson beat me to the top so he is going." Jackson looked at Asher like he just been gravely betrayed.

"Sounds good to me, get veer here and grab on. Remember if you let go you get to go swimming in the muddy water below. I dig the pit every year so no one will hit the bottom. It is perfectly safe." Dia made sure to let every camper know that it was in fact safe. However, that did not stop her from relishing the fact that most would become fearful and lose grip on the handle anyway.

With a pat on the back Jackson who was barely holding on to the handle was sent sliding down the zip line. "Oh, I forgot to tell him to be ready to let go and land on the platform at the bottom. If he doesn't he will hit the stopper and fall in the mud anyways." Dia had forgotten since Laura was distracting her. She just shrugged it off while Asher thanked his lucky stars to have heard her say it.

"Four, three, two, and there. He should be at the bottom. Your turn." Dia clicked another handle in place. " good luck, hold on, and have fun." She knew Asher had heard the safe part before and didn't see the point in repeating it. Before Asher had even reached to hold on to the handle Dia was starting to push him to the edge.

'It's a wonder she hasn't killed anyone yet.' His hands grabbed the handle tightly and he was off. His first reaction to let out a sharp yell while his stomach dropped from the speed. The wind was whipping past his face and his hair blew wildly. "Woohoooooo, this is gggrreeaaattttt." He realized the rush he was feeling as he sped through the air.

He couldn't see anything but the tree branches flying by. The speed seemed to be building more and more as he headed down the zip line. His heart beat faster than it had in a long time as the adrenaline pushed him to his limit. Now Asher knew why Laura was so excited about this obstacle course. He would gladly go through the other obstacles over and over just to go down the zip line again. Or at least that is what he was thinking before he saw a padded platform quickly approaching ahead of him.