“What Pegman saw” is a weekly challenge based on Google Streetview. You can read the rules here. You can find today’s location on this page, from where you can also get the Inlinkz code. This week’s location is Everest!
Mount Everest base camp, Nepal | mkslalove Google Maps
Gratitude
Anne’s first impression as she came out of blackness was of complete surprise. Surely it wasn’t possible to survive a fall like that? The pain in her shattered limbs rapidly convinced her otherwise; she was definitely alive.
She looked up the mountain. The slope at the bottom of the sheer drop was ice-covered and very steep, and then gradually levelled to a plateau. She had hit obliquely and slithered.
There was no way back.
She struggled, painfully, to open her parka and reach her cell-phone. She fumbled it with frost-bitten fingers. Mike! She called him.
It seemed to take an eternity for him to answer.
“You’re alive! Thank God!”
“Mike – don’t try to rescue me. It’s hopeless. I love you! Goodbye!”
She scrolled to her Mom and Dad, looking at their profile picture as her eyes dimmed.
“Thank you for letting me have my adventure,” she breathed as she died.
Autumn Leaves 
Death in cold mountain. Yet she was warm enough to call her loved ones.
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Dear Abhijit
Thank you for reading and commenting. When we are in a desperate position, we crave contact with those we love, don’t we.
With best wishes
Penny
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Oh man. That is so tragic after the miracle of surviving a fall. That said, cellphone reception at altitude is kind of a miracle in itself. Well done!
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Dear Josh
Thank you for reading and commenting. I was a little doubtful about cell phone reception, I must admit!
With best wishes
Penny
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Oh wow, such a great story. What a tragic call to receive. But more tragic still is not to be able to say goodbye. Really enjoyed this.
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Dear Karen
Thank you for reading and for commenting so kindly. I’m glad you enjoyed the story.
With very best wishes
Penny
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What a terriblely sad ending! I would hate to be on the receiving end of a call such as this. . 😢
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Dear John
Thank you for reading and commenting. I agree that it would be heart-breaking to receive such a call. Do you think the ending is entirely sad? Anne died doing the thing she loved more than anything, and the story tells you that she thought her death was a price worth paying.
With very best wishes
Penny
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Penny! How could you? This was really good, though. To be able to say goodbye is such a gift in a case like this.
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This reminds me of the pure, tragic, loving cell phone calls from Flight 93, the one that crashed over pennsylvania on 9/11. Nothing so touching as last words.
You made me think that,despite her peril, she would somehow be saved…you proved her worthiness of salvation…and then you let her die. Powerful in a brutal, harsh, merciless way.
I also liked the way you pointed out that pain reminds us, that we’re alive.
Pain and death and last words are hard to endure, but this death seems noble and brave and human.
The unforgiving conditions of her death highlight the indifference of things like friction, temperature and gravity. How smart, to match that to the style, in which you chose to depict them: brutal, harsh and merciless.
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