"Dad, can I climb the mountain?"

There is no mountain, son, only The Valley.

"Sometimes when things are real quiet, I think I can see it."

There is no mountain, son.

"But there are stories of those who have seen the mountain and actually climbed on it and of the wondrous sights they could see from the mountain."

Don't you go believing those stories, son. Those are the words of the Evil Ones. They will try to lead you away from where you belong, here in the Valley. There is no mountain.

"But what about Joshua? Didn't he climb the Mountain and come back to tell us about it?"

Don't go comparing any of us with Joshua. He was special - not like us regular Valley people.

"Is that why the Valley people killed him? To keep him from talking about the mountain and what he saw?"

There is no mountain, son.

The son said (to himself), "Someday I am going to leave the Valley and go to the Mountain and climb it."

Copyright (c) David Moyle 2003