a story i liked recently

The Great Hill

by Daniel Errico

Before time was time, there was a Great Hill.

And on the Great Hill there lived the Yolks.

The Yolks spent their entire lives climbing the Great Hill, trying to reach the top.

Some Yolks climbed fast.

Some Yolks climbed slowly.

One Yolk in particular was a very slow climber. He was different than the rest of the Yolks.

When he climbed, all the other Yolks passed him.

It was hard for him to watch them pass by.

He felt like the worst climber in the world.

Some Yolks made fun of him as they passed.

Others didn’t.

Some Yolks wanted to help him climb, but he didn’t let them.

It was hard for him to climb. It was even harder when it rained because the ground got slippery. Sometimes it seemed like it was only raining on him.

But it wasn’t.

There were times when he felt like he wasn’t moving at all.

But he was.

Then one day he met another Yolk who climbed even slower than he did.

He helped the slower Yolk climb.

“Thank you,” said the slower Yolk.

“You’re welcome,” said the slow Yolk, “I can’t be of much help to anyone else since I climb so slowly.”

“Slowly?” asked the slower Yolk.

“Well yes,” said the slow Yolk,” I watch other Yolks pass me all the time.”

“I do not know if you are slow or fast, but I do know that you helped me, and that you are still climbing.”

The slow Yolk said goodbye to the slower Yolk, and he kept climbing.

“Still climbing,” he thought to himself.

“That is true.”

And he smiled.

So the slow Yolk kept climbing. He climbed when it was nice out, he climbed when it rained, and he even climbed when it snowed.

As he kept climbing, he got better and better.

Sometimes he would pass other Yolks, and sometimes they would pass him.

He had stopped paying attention.

He also noticed that some Yolks were no longer climbing.

When a Yolk stops climbing, it stays where it is.

Some Yolks stop climbing because they are happy with how far they have gone.

Others stop climbing because they don’t want to climb anymore.

The Yolks that had stopped climbing did not like to be passed, and they made it harder for others to get by.

But the slow Yolk kept climbing, right over them!

There were still times when the slow Yolk thought he was climbing an impossible hill, but he kept climbing. Always, always, climbing.

Do you think he made it to the top?