‘How much for the cap?’
‘300 rupees, madam. You climbing Everest?’
‘Naah! Just trekking to basecamp. My husband will be attempting to summit Everest.’
‘Nice. Your husband very brave. Which party he go with?’
‘Wild Summit.’
‘Very nice. My uncle, Apa Sherpa, going with Wild Summit. He help your husband. I go Everest from next year.’
‘Aren’t you too young?’
‘What saying? I 10 years. My father climb Everest when 14 years. I make world record.’
‘Is your father a mountaineer too?’
‘Yes. Sherpa Ang Dorjee. Climb Everest fifteen times. My brother, Dawa, six times.’
‘Are they climbing this year as well?’
‘No. They die in avalanche last year. Which cap you want? Manchester United?’
Many thanks to our gracious hostess Rochelle Wisoff – Fields for hosting Friday Fictioneers. This week’s prompt has been provided by Bjorn Rudberg. Please enter your story and read others’ here.
Can you write a 30 word Horror story? If you answer in the affirmative, head right here to #MicroMondays. Come join us. It’s fun.
My partner is climbing currently Everest, I’m praying there’ll be no avalanches or earthquakes this year. He’s been to Nepal several times now, he’s brought back a fetching purple yak blanket, maybe this time he’ll buy a cap! Did your partner summit?
LikeLike
I liked this story very much, Varad. Good dialect and writing. Season’s Greetings and Happy New Year, 2018, 🙂 — Suzanne
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you very much for the comment, Suzanne. A very Happy New Year to you and yours too. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Stunning piece you’ve written, Varad. Your dialogue tells us so much about the culture as well as the individual. You prompt me to examine my own values too.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks for the comment, Penny. As I have observed during my treks in the Himalayas, the mountain people have it simple. They know and accept that death might be around the very next corner. There is a lot to learn from everyone from everywhere.
LikeLike
Lovely voice, with such an off-hand/ matter-of-fact turn around at the end. I’m not sure whether to laugh or cry.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you, Sarah Ann. If I was in her boots, I’d have just purchased the hat and shuffled off I think.
LikeLike
Bet she’s awfully sober right now….Nothing like a stoic look at death to do that.
Mine: https://kindredspirit23.wordpress.com/2017/12/22/tend-to-your-knittin/
Scott
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you, Scott.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks for a quick look into another world, another culture with another value system.
LikeLiked by 1 person
The value system of people in dangerous jobs is something wonderful and sometimes totally beyond the grasp for us, regular people living regular lives. Thanks for the comment, Christine.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Like everyone else, the voice of this piece is incredible. I truly loved it. But you got me with ‘Everest’. I would never or could ever trek to the top but I am fascinated with those who do. Its symbolic if nothing else. Then you ended with Manchester United… what can I say but Well Done.
LikeLike
I like the voice. Just brilliant. The story scores in its matter of factness; the way it reveals stark disturbing details about matters of life and death. Very well written, Varad.
LikeLike
I admire and respect the child’s ambition.
It’s a shame that a legendary mountaineers’ family should have to live such a tough life.
Beautifully written story, Varad.
LikeLike
Wow! Accidents and death unfortunately become a part of life in some places and some professions. It’s sad, but the human spirit is resilient, it makes you move on irrespective of what has befallen you or people around you in the past.
LikeLike
Nah, they croaked. Here’s your hat.
Wow.
LikeLike
No. They die in avalanche last year. Wow! So matter-of-fact before offering a hat. Wonderful dialogue.
LikeLike
I loved the voice of this, Varad. I can well imagine that, for them, this is their life – which includes the possibility of death. We are not all raised with the same sentimentality.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I have a friend who walked to the Basecamp and up on one of the neighboring peaks… his “carrier” was a young girl…
LikeLiked by 1 person
It’s all so easy – unless you’re new at it
LikeLike
Brilliant Varad. I could have done with one of those when I went to the Everest base camp a couple of years back.
Click to read my FriFic!
LikeLike
I guess it depends on what you consider “ordinary.” He seems quite accepting of his family’s fate.
No, I can’t write horror in a mere 30 words. 100 words is hard enough. 😉
LikeLike
Real life stories are often so poignant.
LikeLiked by 1 person
So true. Thanks for the comment, YS
LikeLiked by 1 person
Quite breathtaking in its matter-of-factness. Thanks for the background information, too. Well done.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you, Sandra.
LikeLike
Recently I was in Bhutan..and I met a small boy who almost spoke like this boy. Daily life in Bhutan is full of struggle..they have to Trek to get even simple daily things…death is so common that they actually have developed a casual attitude. They only have to depend on their prayers to get basic necessities .. no hospitals, no roads, nothing if there is an emergency.
LikeLiked by 1 person
So true. My guide told me that his eldest kid, 6, takes her two younger siblings daily to school and back. Obviously, the school is located a good 10 km from their house and they have to trek through hilly terrain for most of the journey.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Life in the Himalayas is indeed tough.
LikeLike
Great take on the prompt. It actually speaks a lot more than the prompt.
LikeLike
Western wusses! I did the Inca trail many years back and spent 4 days being overtaken by Peruvians in flip-flops…
LikeLiked by 1 person
Same thing happened to me when I trekked across rupin pass in the Himalayas earlier this year. The porter boys were wearing slip on shoes and were jumping between rocks on the summit.
LikeLike
Excellent voice. I like the different attitude towards death from the child, it feels authentic to the sort of life they live around Everest. Well done.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks, Iain. The Sherpas accept the eventuality. Even the most skillful ones are not exempt from the next disaster on the treacherous mountains.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Dear Varad,
Troubling, if not educational piece. (After reading your reply to Neil.) I felt the same about the child’s casual attitude toward death. Thank you for explaining. I like the voices. Well done.
Shalom,
Rochelle
LikeLiked by 1 person
Dear Rochelle,
I met a Sherpa during one of my treks. He said that right from childhood they understand that climbing the mountains is risky business and death is always lurking around the next corner. They accept that losing limbs and lives is quite possible (since they will be doing most of the heavy lifting) and they don’t dwell on this for long. There are guide Sherpas, who usually accompany the mountaineers to the summit and camp sherpas who are involved only in moving luggage and preparing food. The dream of every camp sherpa is to become a guide. Over the past sixty years, Sherpas have suffered the maximum casualties climbing Everest.
Regards, Varad
LikeLiked by 1 person
A great twist but I’m troubled by the portrayal of family deaths taken so casually by a child. Loss is loss in any culture
LikeLiked by 1 person
The Sherpas pride themselves on being true children of the mountain. For them, dying while climbing the mountains is just a part of life. Most of their villages are located on places inaccessible by road and they usually trek between villages, while carrying supplies and their elders/ young ones. They say that one could die while trekking between villages as well. One more important fact is, among the sherpas, climbing the Everest is almost everything. Not only it fetches them good money, but gives a great social status as well. Almost all the youngster there dream of summitting the Everest.
LikeLiked by 2 people