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42
A Brush With Death (climbing for lust).
<h1><strong>Part 1: The Climb</strong></h1><p><br/></p><p>I was seventeen.</p><p><br/></p><p>At that age, courage and foolishness looked almost the same. At least, that's what I believed that afternoon.</p><p><br/></p><p>There was a girl in my neighborhood whom I had a crush on, her name was Cilla. The kind of crush that made your heart beat faster whenever she looked in your direction, even if she wasn't really looking at you. We had wandered into a nearby bush in Tanko where a tall mango tree stood, its branches heavy with ripe fruits that glowed against the leaves.</p><p><br/></p><p>She looked up.</p><p><br/></p><p>"Those ones at the top look sweeter."</p><p><br/></p><p>That was all it took.</p><p><br/></p><p>I didn't stop to think about how high the tree was. I didn't ask myself whether it was safe. My mind was occupied with only one thing.</p><p><br/></p><p>I have to get those mangoes.</p><p><br/></p><p>I wanted to impress her.</p><p><br/></p><p>Not with words.</p><p><br/></p><p>With action.</p><p><br/></p><p>I wrapped my arms around the trunk and began to climb.</p><p><br/></p><p>The bark scraped against my palms. My slippers kept searching for places to grip. Every branch I pulled myself onto felt like another step toward proving... something.</p><p><br/></p><p>To her.</p><p><br/></p><p>Maybe to myself.</p><p><br/></p><p>Below me, the world became smaller.</p><p><br/></p><p>I could hear her voice every now and then, but it sounded farther away than before.</p><p><br/></p><p>"Be careful!"</p><p><br/></p><p>I smiled to myself.</p><p><br/></p><p>Careful? I've climbed trees before.</p><p><br/></p><p>I'm fine.</p><p><br/></p><p>The higher I climbed, the cooler the breeze became. The mangoes hanging above me looked perfect—large, yellow-green, untouched.</p><p><br/></p><p>Just a little higher.</p><p><br/></p><p>Almost there.</p><p><br/></p><p>I reached for another branch.</p><p><br/></p><p>It bent slightly beneath my weight.</p><p><br/></p><p>I hesitated.</p><p><br/></p><p>For a brief second, a quiet thought crossed my mind.</p><p><br/></p><p>Should I stop here?</p><p><br/></p><p>I looked down.</p><p><br/></p><p>The ground suddenly felt impossibly far away.</p><p><br/></p><p>My stomach tightened.</p><p><br/></p><p>No... If I go back now, she'll think I got scared.</p><p><br/></p><p>I swallowed hard and ignored the warning in my chest.</p><p><br/></p><p>One more step.</p><p><br/></p><p>That's all.</p><p><br/></p><p>Just one more step.</p><p><br/></p><p>I lifted my foot and placed it on what looked like the strongest branch within reach.</p><p><br/></p><p>It didn't move.</p><p><br/></p><p>It didn't shake.</p><p><br/></p><p>It looked solid.</p><p><br/></p><p>I shifted my full weight onto it...</p><p><br/></p><p>And then—</p><p><br/></p><p>CRAAACK.</p><p><br/></p><p>The sound exploded through the silence.</p><p><br/></p><p>For one frozen heartbeat...</p><p><br/></p><p>I couldn't understand what had just happened...</p><p><em><br/></em></p><p><em>TO BE CONTINUED...</em></p>
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8
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