One.  She reached her hand out, trembling as she grasped the rock to the left.  With a swift movement she pulled herself upward and anchored her foot once again, bracing herself for the upcoming seconds.  This had been her first time up on the walls, and her heart couldn't stop beating with excitement and fear. 

"Don't look down," she repeated to herself again, as she hoisted herself up another step.

She hadn't anticipated how much the fear would overtake her.  By the time she was half way, she could feel the perspiration gather on her hands as she struggled to quell the tremble in her body.

How long had she anticipated this day?  She couldn't help but think back to the beginning of the year, when she and her friends had set all their goals to work towards for the year.  It was odd how quickly it all went by.  And how they had actually made it this far.  Not that she had doubted their potential.  After all, they were the type who were true to their words.  Yet at the same time, it was always hard to believe when one actually found themselves at the end.

She was quickly pulled out of her thoughts as her left foot slide slightly, causing her to lose footing for a few seconds.  In that one instance, she had made a terrible mistake, and felt her entire body instantly lock up.

She looked down.

Her mind immediately went into panic mode, forgetting about everything they had told her before and the fact that she was safely strapped into a harness.   What in the world had she been thinking at the time?  She couldn't do this.  No.  How had she gotten this far up?  Wasn't she just on the group mere minutes ago?  How much further did she have to go?  Could she make it?  No no.  It's too far.  But she couldn't quit now, she had gotten so far. 

It was at this moment she began to wonder if this was the sort of thing that happened when people experienced the height of emotions.  That brief period before you think you're going to die where people claim that your so called life begins to flash before your eyes.  Of course, this was an extreme exaggeration, as she was no way near being in a position of death, nor did her life flash before her eyes.  But she could only imagine that the overwhelming sense of self she was experiencing was somewhat comparable

 Maybe she would just stay here.  Yes.  that would work.  She would just stay here until the end.

The end?  When was that coming again?  She wondered to herself, only to hear a small chuckle in reply.  Of course it wasn't coming.  There was no end.  Not today at least.  The end would come when she made a decision for it to come.  And that wasn't going to happen unless she called it.  She had nearly laughed out at this realization.  How foolish she had been.  Of course that was the case.  That's how it had always been.

She titled her head upwards, spotting her next target to the left of her.  With a deep breath she reached out in hopes of ending it quickly.  To her delight, her hand landed it easily and she pulled herself up another step.

Two.  She began counting in her head, one step at a time.  And up she went.