Like Leaves In The Wind, We Fall

What if their fall into the ravine had been more serious? A study of actions, life-changing consequences and a journey of growth to become better men and family. "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." - P. J. O'Rourke * "Frayed was a good way to describe how he was feeling. As though someone had grabbed him and held him ten meters underwater in the Chao Phraya river. He was drowning, the dark murky water filling his lungs, and his oxygen lay four feet across the room. Unreachable."

Like Leaves In The Wind, We Fall

What if their fall into the ravine had been more serious? A study of actions, life-changing consequences and a journey of growth to become better men and family. "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." - P. J. O'Rourke * "Frayed was a good way to describe how he was feeling. As though someone had grabbed him and held him ten meters underwater in the Chao Phraya river. He was drowning, the dark murky water filling his lungs, and his oxygen lay four feet across the room. Unreachable."

Rain lashed the narrow trail, turning the red clay into slick blood. Mark slipped first—a gasp, a flail, then the sickening crack of rock giving way. Eli lunged, catching his brother’s wrist just as the ledge collapsed beneath him. For three heartbeats, he held on, muscles screaming, boots skidding toward the edge. Then Eli let go.

They fell twenty meters, tumbling through wet ferns and jagged stone. Mark landed hard, ribs splintering against a boulder. Eli struck a tree root mid-air, his leg snapping like dry bamboo before he plunged into the river shallows.

When consciousness returned, the world was pain. Mark coughed blood into the mud. Eli lay ten feet away, pale and shivering, one leg bent at a wrong angle. Their packs—gone, swept downstream. The radio, crushed. Above, the storm swallowed the sky.

Mark tried to stand. Failed. He turned to Eli, voice raw. "You… you let go."

Eli didn’t answer. Just stared at the cliff wall, jaw clenched. "We’re not dying here," he whispered. "Not like this."

But the ravine offered no exits—only darkness, rising water, and the slow drip of time running out.