Alexis Nelson’s smoky red lips moved and out came the word. “Dare,” she chose the only real choice because nobody would want to be labeled the buzzkill by choosing the coward’s truth.
“I dare you to climb the look-out!” Christeen Milligan, Alexis’s best friend, announced loudly. ‘The look-out’ is a skeletal tower on the edge of their hometown in Carson, North Dakota. Not a soul had climbed it since 1995 when a young teenage girl committed suicide by jumping off the top of this tower. Alexis didn’t allow that to scare her, she was known as the daredevil of this town and with that on her mind she accepted the dangerous, death defying challenge ahead of her.
Alexis grabbed ahold of the first bar on the long rusted ladder. She slowly climbed, one bar after the other. Half way up Alexis had misjudged her next step due to the little moonlight in the night. The air was misty and her shoe slid, causing her to lose balance. Alexis’s vision became blurry and her breathing grew rapid. She looked back up toward the top and with a deep breath began to climb so she could get this entire thing over with. Once all the way up she threw her hands in the air showing victory and cheered, feeling as though she conquered the world. Through the middle of Alexis’s cheering a large gust of wind blew at her back and caused her tangled jet black hair to cover her face. She took a step forward to try and keep her balance, not noticing how close she was to the edge. Like a slow motion video she fell, her arms were flailing trying to get a hold onto something. Her face showed true horror and with a thud she hit the ground, instantly dead. The others all in shock, mirrored her colorless face.
A year went by and Christeen, the one who dared Alexis, was climbing that same tower. With a single tear that slid down her pale cheek Christeen whispered, “I’m sorry.” Then turned her back towards the edge. closed her eyes, and put her arms out to slowly let herself fall.