#2
I had never climbed a mountain quite that big before. The sun was just about to rise, and I was nearing exhausting. John had told me that | there was a chest of gold buried at the summit of Mt. Precipice. But at that point I would have traded it all for my warm bed at home. "Just four more miles to go," I told myself. Suddenly, with a loud crack, the icy ground began caving in around me. | Struggling for purchase and facing almost certain death, I suddenly remembered the words of my life-long mentor Shin-Hao Tsu: "Look not within yourself for the butterfly, but rather within the butterfly for yourself." | Shoot, I realized: that has absolutely no application here. That was my last thought before I | starting falling, stomach in mouth, hands flailing. Just as my life began to flash before my eyes, I was shocked back into consciousness. I had hit solid ground. Without opening my eyes, I wiggled my toes. "I'm not paralyzed!" However,
