Day 10: Dreams

I have a list of 100 goals that I wrote as a senior in high school. It was an assignment for our psychology class. And while I didn't manage to date 100 boys before I got married (praise be), and I no longer have any desire to sea kayak from Alaska to Mexico (what was I thinking?!) there are many goals that I would still love to accomplish. At last count, I have managed to accomplish 47 of them, including "Drink hot chocolate in the Alps in January." (That being a highlight. Obviously.) For today's writing prompt, I'm supposed to write down 5 dreams and then write about one of them for five minutes.

Five dreams
1. Climb Mt. Kilimanjaro.
2. Run for elected office.
3. Write a book.
4. Learn to do a 360 degree spin on ice skates (and look graceful while doing it).
5. Get my Master's degree.

Go.

I could hear the wind whipping around the walls of my lime green tent as I lay there and waited for sleep to find me. The walls felt as thin as paper. I tried not to pay attention, ignoring the fact that every single muscle in my body ached, the blisters on my feet throbbed, and even as exhausted as I felt--sleep felt far off and distant. We had completed day 2 of our five day ascent of Mount Kilimanjaro today. Over a year of planning and training had gone into this hike, for I was determined to summit. I had excitedly talked to clerks, reference librarians, strangers in line at Target about this trip. Anyone who would listen. It was not only a dream coming true, but one of the great challenges that I'd set out to accomplish in my life.

The flight over had been long, but exciting. The drive to the base of the mountain filled me with awe, and I had scrawled notebook pages full of nonsense about the mythical, magical nature of this place and this mountain. Now I just wondered what I'd gotten myself into. Wondered how I could turn back, and save face. Three more days to go. Three more days to Uhuru. The summit. I swear, I could hear the mountain laughing at me. I'm sure it was probably one of our Masai guides; maybe Jonathan, with his effortless stride and wide smile and 100 summits. But it sure sounded like the mountain to me.