Bang! The door burst open. I came out of the car into the
freezing weather. It was September 2003 in the South of
Ireland. I was 11 years old and both of my small brothers
were 9 and 4 years old. I could see my dad smiling. He put
his hat on and made his way onto the sandy shore. My brother
and I followed him, shivering slightly. My mom and my second
brother were coming after us. My brother's nose was red and
his teeth were clicking. I could hear the wind whistling in
my ear, warning me. In retrospect maybe I should have paid
attention to these forewarnings. I could see the sea-
shallow water being intimidated by the mighty, steep hill
beside it. The air was foggy, unclear. My mom looked at my
dad with a questioning look. He smiled at her, and looked
ready for an adventure.
The place was deserted.
'See that hill...'My dad said, pointing to a steep, bumpy
hill beside the sea. 'We are going to climb it!'
I was astounded by the statement.
The hill looked high, about 10 meters. It was at about 125
degrees to the ground. The way up was pretty much straight,
except for the little lumps which were stones sticking out
of the ground. On the hill there were no bushes or trees it
was plain covered with grass and other weed. All the ascent
leads to the flat wide top which we couldn't see clearly. I
couldn't believe my dad was expecting us to climb all the
way up, especially as we never climbed anything like that
before.
We laughed. Another one of my father's jokes.
'What are you laughing at?' He asked, and said in a serious
voice:
'WE ARE GOING TO CLIMB THAT!'
My mom was shocked. Her eyes scanned my dad, searching for
the joke. As though she was waiting for him to say 'April
Fools Day'. My brother, still shivering was amazed. My
smaller brother was too young to understand, but he was
frightened by the look on my mother's face. Only my dad was
smiling. There was like a spark in his eyes; he wanted to do
this for so long. He was ready to take a challenge.
I was still stunned. But my father's look gave me strength.
I felt stronger. We can do it, I thought, if we really want
too.
We all agreed to take the challenge. My mom looked more
amused then concerned. I looked up at the hill. It was tall,
threatening, and powerful. It was as if the hill was trying
to scare me away. 'You are too small to climb me.' I was
ready for the journey to begin.

The sky was darker now. It was going to rain. I stretched my
leg at the bottom of the hill. My dad asked me 'Are you
ready?' I saw it in his eyes. He wanted us to succeed, to
make it to the top as a family and to be proud of
ourselves.
'Yes' I answered very confidently. He gave me a push and I
was off.
I was up on the hill holding weeds to balance myself. With
every step I took my heart was beating faster. I was so
excited. The wind was blowing in my face and my lips were
turning blue. 'Never look down' I said to myself 'never look
down'. I struggled up the hill as the climbing became
harder. My clothes were stained with mud. I heard my brother
behind me, fighting the force of gravity, heaving himself
upwards.
WHOOSH!!! The wind came blowing straight into my eyes. They
started watering. I couldn't hear or see anything anymore. I
gripped my hand on a stone and pulled myself upwards. I
cannot give up now!
The touch of wet grass disgusted me. It smelled like rotten
peppers. I could see the top of the hill. Now encouraging me
to keep going. I felt like an hour had passed. I was
exhausted. I was getting redder and warmer from all the
effort, but was still cold because of the wind. I thought
maybe to just let go, fall into the mysterious fog beneath
me. But something in my mind told me not to give up. Step by
step I came closer to the end. One more push and I'd be
there. I saw the sheep on the hill, gazing at me with their
deep brown eyes. An empty uninterested look. Suddenly I felt
small, drained. It started to rain, and with a final thrust
I pushed myself up. I was finally at the top.

The rain was dripping on my face. I looked down. My heart
was beating so fast I could hear it. I was thrilled,
frightened and astonished at the same time. I could not
believe I had accomplished this mission. At this amazing
height, I had climbed to the top. I had made it!
I saw my brother coming up. I helped him climb the last
step. We both were too shocked to talk to each other.
I don't know how long we stood there, but after what felt
like 15 minutes we started to get worried. Neither my mom,
dad nor my little brother showed up yet. We couldn't see
them down the hill because a big cloud was covering our
vision. We started telling jokes that a bird might have
taken my little brother to her nest, but 5 more minuets
passed and they didn't come. My brother sat down. He glanced
at me. I was walking back and forth fidgeting with my hands.
Thinking: What could've gone wrong? If something did happen
we can't help them! This was a bad idea! Do I still have
parents?
HOW WILL LIFE BE WITHOUT THEM? - Who will help and support
me when I need to? Who will take care of me and my brother?
Who will cook us delicious food and cakes? And generally who
will tell me what's right and wrong?
The time seemed to be moving slower than ever.
I felt guilty, irresponsible and lonely. Suddenly the top of
the hill didn't look so free and cheerful anymore.
Everything was gloomy and frightening. I couldn't look into
my brother's eyes. I didn't feel rewarded anymore.

Suddenly I heard a crack from down below. I gave a little
jump of surprise. I looked down, from the edge of the hill,
and saw a mysterious black spot moving towards me. It came
closer and closer, I recognized the little bald head- it was
my father!
The feeling of such relief flooded from my heart to the rest
of the body. Like when you push the first game piece in a
Domino Rally set. I was free, blameless and so glad. And I
understood just then how fortunate I was for having
parents.
We helped my father up and he told us it was too difficult
for my mom and my little brother. There was disappointment
in his voice but I thought it was a wise decision. Better
not to risk anything.
We rested there for a while to let my dad get his breath
back. Then he said we'd better start walking down because my
mom must be really worried by now. We found a path, which we
didn't see before, leading safely to the bottom of the
hill's other side. We followed it to the end.

When we got to the bottom I ran and hugged my mother so
tight and refused to let go. I felt so lucky to be safely
with her again.
'OK, that was the warm up,' my dad said sarcastically 'Now,
who is ready for the big mountain?!'
We laughed. I felt my heart was finally coming back to its
normal rate. I went into the warm, relaxing car and closed
the door.
I think from this experience I learned lots of things like:
never give up on a challenge and don't let bad weather take
you down. But most importantly- that I am very much
fortunate to have such great parents.
From that day onwards I think I treated my parents with a
little bit more respect because I had visualized how life
would've been without them. Suddenly I noticed how much they
do for me on an everyday basis. Very simple and unnoticeable
things like: laundry, cooking, cleaning and working for
money. and even if sometimes I don't show it I still
appreciate everything they do for me.
The car was moving backwards. I looked at the hill beside
the seashore. Taking a picture in my mind: The sandy shore,
the pouring rain, little waves in the sea and now small
looking, gloomy hill. The car turned round and I couldn't
see it any more.

It was an exciting adventure.
AND I'LL NEVER FORGET IT!