As he looked up upon the mountain ahead of him, he knew that the worst was yet to come. The frigid air was piercing his cheeks and lips. He wanted to lay down and give up until he saw someone coming from behind. A hooded figure appeared and looked up at the mountain as well. “Going to be quite a journey getting up that huh?” the figure said. ‘Yeah, don’t know how I’m going to make it up there. I’m cold and my energy is draining. I may just give up.’ The figure looked at him, reached out his hand and gave him hand warmers. ‘This isn’t my first journey across this land and up this mountain’, the figure said, ‘stick with me and I’ll make sure you get to the top.’ ‘Well thanks man. I didn’t catch your name?’ “That’s because I didn’t give it. What’s yours?”, the hooded figure exclaimed. “I’m not telling you mine unless you tell me yours”, he replied. ‘Let’s go. If we hurry, we won’t wake the monster.”, the hooded figured replied. “Monster?” he said in a scared tone.

            The snow kept falling as He and the hooded figure continued on their journey. ‘Man. It’s nice to have someone to talk to and be with through all of this.’ He said. ‘I’ve traveled this journey many times. I’ve met several people along the road. Most of which are completely depleted of energy, so when I get to them, there’s nothing I can do to save them.” “Man, I’m awfully glad I met you then. So uhh, can you tell me more about this monster?” “The monster is something you don’t want to mess with. It steals a part of your soul when it gets you. Throughout your journey you’ve gain confidence in yourself, this monster isn’t afraid to steal that from you.’ As the hooded figure told this to him, his face got as white as the snow on the ground. ‘I can see your afraid, but follow me, do everything I say and it will be okay.’ He nodded in agreement and continued up the mountain.

            Snow was falling harder and harder the closer and closer they got to the mountain. Their scarves began to freeze and were no longer providing the warmth that they were intended to. The snow was getting deeper and deeper and with every step, struggle came more and more. He got slower and slower and eventually fell to the frozen ground. ‘Just go on without me, I’ll only hold you back.’ ‘No. Get up. We’ve made it this far, we’re going all the way up the mountain. I will carry you on my back if I have to.’ ‘Just a few minutes rest. I cannot carry on. My legs are frozen.’ ‘Buck up man. We gotta go before the monster wakes up.’ ‘But, but, but.’ ‘NO BUTS! Get your butt up and let’s go man!’ ‘Alright, alright, alright. Let’s go.’

            They trudged another 20 minutes or so when out of nowhere, the hooded figure stopped. ‘We need to be quiet. They are out.’ ‘Who, who’s out?’ ‘The monster! Who else would it be? Godzilla?!’ They continued walking along being as quiet as they could. They tried to breathe as quietly as they could when all of a sudden, He felt a tingling in his nose. He had to sneeze. The monster was flying above the path they were taking. The monster had jagged sides, a long tail and a red eye, that when looked into, stole your hopes, dreams and confidence. He could not hold in the sneeze any longer. He tried to quiet his sneeze which only made it sound as though a mac truck had sounded his horn. No sooner than the sneeze was let out, did the monster stare directly at them. ‘Well, you done did it now dude.’ ‘What do we do?’ He asked. ‘Well. We have two options. We can lay down and die. Or run.’ ‘Well, the snow is deep and running really isn’t my thing so…’. The hooded figure then pulled him along and stared running. ‘What do we do?! It’s gonna catch us!’ ‘We hide under these houses and behind these stones. It can only see what’s directly in front of it. It won’t be able to spot us.’ He and the hooded figure than ran behind one of the stones. ‘How long until it goes away?’ ‘Sometimes it’s a few hours, other times it’s a few minutes.’ The monster than came around where they were, so the hooded figured pulled him back, hitting the snow off the stone. ‘Hey uhh, I have a question.’ ‘What?’ Why does this stone say Garrett?’ ‘Well, He’s the last one that could not keep up with the journey.’ ‘Wait. These are all gravestones?!’ ‘Yeah, they all died. But don’t worry, I’m sure you’ll make it.’ ‘There’s like 50 of these things. How many people did you make the journey with?!’ ‘All of them, but they all were eaten by the monster.’ ‘You said you could help me!’ ‘I can! You just have to trust me!’ After hiding for the better part of an hour, in the snowy distance appeared another figure. This figure was running as fast as it could to get to safety. He spotted him and the other hooded figured and yelled, ‘Hey guys! Hey! What’s up? I’m Charles.’ The monster quickly whipped around spotting Charles and ate him. ‘Well, that’s 51 gravestones now.’

            Eventually the monster got tired and went back to sleep. He and the hooded figure then deemed it safe to move again. They continued their journey up the mountain. The snow got heavier and heavier, almost blinding them. To keep together, they held onto each other’s scarfs. ‘Man, I can’t see! Maybe we should slow down and wait it out!’ ‘We are on a side of a mountain. There’s no slowing down of snow! We just have to keep moving.’ As they approached the top of the mountain, their steps began to get slower and slower, eventually coming to a halt. ‘We have to keep going. We can’t stop.’ the hooded figure exclaimed. ‘But, I’m so weak. I can’t make it!’ ‘Hop on!’ The hooded figure then carried him the rest of the way to the top of the mountain. In front of them, was a giant door with something sparkling in the windows. ‘What’s behind there?’ he asked. ‘Anything you make it. Use your creativity and imagination. There’s no wrong answer. It’s whatever you want it to be’, the hooded figure replied. ‘What do you want it to be?’ ‘We’re not close enough for me to disclose that. You don’t even know my name and I don’t know yours.’ ’ ‘I asked you your name and you wouldn’t tell me!’ ‘My friends call me Matt.’ ‘ I’m Jeff.’