Ingrid Wolseithcrafte
July 29, 2015 7:00 AM
New hobby, new friends? by Ingrid Wolseithcrafte
Ingrid was restless. Quidditch training was great, and the nights she had that, the time flew by. She was learning so much from all the others, and starting to feel like someone who would hold her own on the pitch. Last practise, she'd tried out all these new manoeuvres. She found it frustrating when she didn't get them straight away – Ingrid had never been a patient person - but it was then all the more satisfying when she finally nailed it. The nights when she didn't have practise though, were kind of boring. She'd done a little exploring but felt that might be more fun with a friend – something she was sad to say she hadn't really made outside of the Quidditch team. A lot of the team did other exercise to get themselves fit for matches, and so one evening, when she had nothing else to do and a lot of spare energy to burn, she made her way to the MARS sports room. She wasn't truly sure what she wanted from it. She could run ok, she was a naturally decent sprinter, but she wasn't sure it was something she wanted to do for hours.'Give me something new,' she thought, as her hand twisted the doorknob.
She opened the door to reveal a tall wooden wall. Circles of different sizes had been cut out of it, their insides painted different bright colours. She crossed the large squishy mat that lay at the foot of it, in order to read the notice pinned to the bottom of the wall. It read Climb me.
Ingrid grinned. She'd had plenty of practise on trees but actual climbing as a sport wasn't something she'd tried. The MARS room had definitely chosen well for her though. She placed both hands and one foot in different circles, pushing up, reaching for a place for her free foot, and then boosting herself up to new hand holds. Whilst the shapes weren't quite regular like a ladder, it was easy going. There was always plenty with in reach to hold onto. It was higher than any tree she'd climbed, and towards the end she felt her stamina fading a bit. Where she'd started out with enthusiasm, stretching for holds high above her, moving quickly, she now took her time, reached for holds she knew she could make, not trusting her arms to take the strain they had at the beginning. But she did it. She knew she must have partly because there was nowhere left for her hands to go but also because another small noticed appeared in the top centre of the wall.
Well done, it read, Now let go.
Ingrid hesitated only a moment before doing as the sign said. As she fell, something caught her. The room was obviously charmed to slow her down, and she fell safely onto the soft mat below. She stood up, grinning broadly. The wall rippled, morphing into a new challenge. This one was much more like a real rock face, in that it leant in and bulged out, though it still had convenient foot and hand holds sticking out.
Ingrid started up. It was ok for the first few paces. Less regular than the Swiss Cheese wall, sure. She was taking care from the start on this one, having to think about every hand and foot placement. As the wall started to lean out, it was hard to hold her balance. She had to lean back to navigate around the lump but that made gravity's pull on her much firmer. She wanted to lean in closer to the wall, but the shape of it prevented her. She didn't feel like her feet were in very secure places but she had to move something. She reached for the next hand hold and that was enough, gravity took her. She tumbled with the same control as before, landing on the mat. She dug through her bag, taking a swig of water before she tackled the wall again.
It was easier this time, knowing what to expect. Getting a more solid hold with her feet, instead of ending up in the awkward position which had contributed to her downfall last time. She made it over the outcrop. Now it was just a case of climbing up. The hand and footholds were definitely getting more spread out. Sometimes clustering on the left, sometimes the right, making her change sides and stretch. She was so near the top but sure she was stuck. She couldn't see anything within reach. There was a handhold, but to get to it, she would have to stretch her foot a seemingly impossible distance, then boost herself up. She might even have to let go of her current handhold to reach the foothold which would mean the only had two points of contact with the wall. It was the situation with the outcrop all over again, she was going to be in a position she couldn't hold on with. She was also fairly sure that her body didn't even stretch that far or move that way and that she was going to fall if she tried. But, she reasoned, her fingertips were starting to ache, and she was going to fall eventually if she just stayed here until they gave out. Better to go down fighting. She launched herself. Her foot made contact. Her fingers just gripped the handhold above, protesting that they had never been designed to take that much of her weight. Even though she'd made it, it was still impossible, but she chanced another move without really thinking about it, just knowing that moving, that reaching for a more secure grip was the only way she wasn't going to fall. She got it. She was stable.
Well done. the notice unfurled itself, Now let go.
Ingrid didn't think she could have held on even if she'd wanted to. Without a second thought, she happily relinquished her grip on the wall, letting out a whoop as she sailed down.
“I did it!” she grinned, as she made contact with the crash mat. She had been so absorbed in her task, that she really had no reason to expect that she was talking to anyone other than herself, and jumped up when someone replied.
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Ingrid Wolseithcrafte
New hobby, new friends?
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