“I can do it myself,” he would say quietly, but it was clear how challenging the rock was for him, and how much effort he was making to overcome his fear.
Once they reached the top, the boy wearily dropped onto the sun-warmed stone and lay there, exhausted, like a warrior after a battle. He shook off the last of his fear and regained his composure. From the summit, a boundless stretch of Siberia opened up before them. Their granite rock soared up into the sky like a massive cathedral. The trees below seemed no more than matchsticks. It was hard to believe that people were capable of ascending that steep wall, but ascend it they did.
Of course the pilot often saw the ground from great heights. When the weather allowed it, the vastness of the earth was revealed to Shilin, but it was the fi
