Life’s Slippery Slopes

The storm drifted rapidly towards us with each step we took.
“The weather is looking pretty bad. Should we keep climbing?” I asked my sister Emily.
“Let’s just keep going. The storm will probably pass anyway,” Emily said, pointing out the small patch of blue surrounded by mildly gray skies. We continued our climb up the rough rocks at Vedauwoo National Park in Wyoming covered with beautiful boulders, amazing  hiking trails, and clear blue ponds. My family has been here a million times to go hiking, picnicking, and camping. We climbed through a mini tunnel created by a boulder the size of a house. Next we sprinted up a flat surfaced boulder. Looks like ten more yards to the top but, I knew we would have to zig-zag much further to reach the top.  Emily lunged over a giant gap to the next rock. This gap was bigger than I had ever jumped over before. I was absolutely terrified. Thankfully, a tree had grown between the rocks and I reached for dear life. I let out a sigh, proud to make it safely.
“Come on we are almost to the top,” she said.
“Okay, I am coming,” I said, winded from an altitude much higher than I was used to. We pulled ourselves up through a low crevice and sprinted up another flat surfaced boulder. Suddenly, stinging pain shot down my leg along with a stream of blood. I kept going. I didn’t let this little flesh wound stop me. The life saving branch must have got me after all.
  We kept an eye on the changing sky. That comforting blue patch had disappeared and the clouds got a hint darker. We reached the top as the first rain drop fell. The air was fresh with the smell of dirt and pine. Now it started to smell like rain.  It was so peaceful and relaxing. I didn’t want to go down. We walked around for a little bit and enjoyed miles and miles of Wyoming’s splendor.
“Uh oh,” Emily said, as she looked up.  I thought the same thing.
“We better get going before we get stuck up here,”
“We should go this way,” Emily said with a hint of panic in her voice. Our journey quickly became frightful as the rain poured down. The rocks became very slippery and getting down was going to be difficult. The route we chose led us to a dangerous ledge just wide enough to cross single file. Every step became a challenge. Whoosh! A gust of wind slammed against Emily and I, causing us both to lose our balance. We both fell into the side of a boulder. Emily screamed. We soon knew she had broken two fingers while catching herself. Her hand immediately swelled and turned color. One more challenge to face and we were only half way down. Where to go next we thought.
We scanned the area in hope of a quick and easy route down. I could tell Emily was worried about the rain coming back. I reassured her that we would get down and everything. One more steep descent and we would be home free.
We managed to find a somewhat easy route down. Emily and I slid down a steep slope, walked down crevices and managed to make it back to the ground. We hobbled back to our car scratched, bruised, and with broken bones.
“My hand is killing me,” Emily said as we walked to the car. I unlocked the car with the keypad and we both hopped in the car and buckled up.
“Where are the keys?”
“I thought you had them,” we both looked at each with true panic in our eyes. We searched the car top to bottom. I quickly jumped out of the car to make sure we didn’t drop them when we got out the car.
“Stay here, I will go look for them,” I said. I jumped out the car and started to retrace my steps. I walked along the grass filled trail and began my climb up the rocks. About a quarter of the way up the trail I saw the keys hanging on a branch. I try my best to keep balanced on the skinny boulder as I grab the keys. I finally get a hold of the branch and snatched my keys back. I sprint back down the boulders to my car.
“I got the keys,” I yell. I jumped back into the car and rushed her to the hospital. We finally arrived at the hospital to get her hand bandaged up. The doctor took x-rays and began to banagae her hand.
“What happened?” The doctor asked as he looked at both of us because we were covered in cuts.
“Just almost got killed by a boulder and wind, no big deal,” Emily replied. The doctor gave us a weird look and continued bandaging her hand.
“Alright you are free to go,” said the Doctor. My sister and I left the hospital and went back to the house. What a day we both thought as we collapsed on the comfy black couch to watch a movie.
“You ready for the next climb,”