Good Morning by Vasya Vorotnikov
Every high school student knows what it’s like to get up in the morning… At around 5:50 AM the alarm goes off and, in the laziest way possible, I reach out to shut it off. I take a few seconds to think what I am going to do next… I decide to stay in bed for another ten to twenty minutes, mistakenly thinking I will be able to wake up again. Yet, I manage to use this time to enjoy my morning dreams and forget about school and other matters that I’m going to deal with later on.
It’s astounding how many thoughts can pass through one’s mind in a split second! And it is only when a person is partially awake that he or she can see the greatest dreams. For me, that time is around 6:00 AM. It is impossible to describe every fantasy my mind floats through in those twenty minutes of bliss, but somehow every one of them starts and ends with rock climbing…
Slap! “Wow,” I sensed in my sleep, “what perfect texture!” I just stuck another sloper. My brain sent signals through my nervous system into my hands. Now, I can feel the hold… Then my brain transferred another signal across my body – a sound of nails scraping against solid granite. It was a perfect crimp… Lots of random moves ran through my mind: dynos, perfectly static body shifts, drop-knees, and flagging. I even drew mental pictures of ideal grips; I held on to slopers, pinches, crimps, jugs, and mono pockets. It is hard to get ready for a climb in your sleep, but this was it. I was now prepared to try something startling, something normal people would call impossible.
There it was… An implausible route I’ve wanted to try my whole life. It was an endless line of untouched solid holds, where every move required concentration, focus, and confidence. I felt ready, I felt strong. As soon as I started climbing, I felt my pulse increase exponentially to about 130 beats per minute or even more. Oxygen got used up right away. Glycogen in my muscles changed quickly into pure energy, giving me enough power to do the next move. “Yes,” I thought as I was coming close to the top, “I can totally do it!” One iron cross was the only move that separated me from finishing my climb. BAM!
I stick the move… and all I have to do now is reach up. Slowly, voices in my head begin ringing, ringing faster and faster. “Wake up, Vasya! Wake up! It’s time to go to school!” I start remembering where I really am, but the concentration for getting to the top disappears and I rapidly fall down. Back in reality, I put my clothes on, grab something to eat, and head out to school. But now I’m happy. I know that someday I will find that thrilling climb and when I find it, I will have all it takes to finish it.
