Quintessential Moment by Wesley Rolfe

by Wesley Rolfe (South Africa)

I didn't expect to find South Africa

I was alone. That is how I preferred it. Hiking was my escape from the harsh realities around me. I quit my job to seek a better future and to travel with no real prospects ahead of me yet. My savings would run out soon, but I pushed those worries aside. I immersed myself in my surroundings. Vertigo seized me. I halted. My heart raced. It was significantly higher than expected. Do not look down. Two more steps. Last one. I was over the crescent. Deep breaths. A hawk soared overhead. The birds quietened when they saw its shadow on the rocks. Knowing that I was safe, I shifted and glanced over the edge. My heart thrummed loudly. A dam nestled amongst the trees and the campsite below it with a haze shrouding the horizon. I turned back to my adventure, my serenity, my escape. Three waterfalls down. Nineteen to go. Four... five.... I attempted to count the falls as I walked. Eventually, I lost track of how many I had seen. Each had their own beauty. Some larger than others, with great pools to submerge oneself, while some barely trickled over the rocks. I hiked further up the mountain and deeper into the woods. Freedom. I wished I could stay there forever. Each step took me somewhere new. A pool filled with frogs in all stages of growth. Trees collapsed after the termites devoured their bases. I almost jumped across the river when I encountered a tarantula the size of my palm. My heart pounded against my chest. I’m a mountain and forest lover, trapped in a city boy’s life. This had to change. I had to change. My mind raced while I wandered, taking in everything while contemplating my future. The streams calmed my mind. The trickling and splashing taking me back to my beloved childhood. I chuckled as I saw younger me running and diving into the pool, soaking my grandfather and the look he gave. A cacophony of water crashing over rocks forced their way into my senses. I strayed from the path. It was here that I found it, the largest waterfall of them all. Rocky walls reared up, surrounding the waterfall like a compassionate mother. The water plummeted to the earth, creating swells below. Hues of blue and green filled my sight. Luscious life encompassed all. I stripped down and walked into its depths. I shrieked as the cold touched my stomach. A sudden drop and I was fully submerged. I thought I was drowning with the shock of the chill. I broke through the surface, gasping for air that didn’t feel enough to fill my lungs. I dived again. Maybe this was how I died. An appropriate end. I kicked off the bottom and propelled upwards. Not today. Today, I lived. Today, I thrived. I swam towards the cascading water; it forced me to tumble and turn. I re-emerged a few paces back. I chuckled and went again. I was ecstatic. The frogs croaked angrily as I disturbed their resting place when I stole their rock to sit on. I thawed out in the sun. Is this what it meant to be happy? Is this what it meant to be free? Or had the cold just numbed my senses and was I in a new state of delirium? It didn’t matter. All that did was the churning water, constantly tumbling and crashing. The birds chirping, insects buzzing, even that blasted mosquito that kept biting me caused no qualms. I was present in the moment. My heart soared, anxiety forgotten. I may not have found the answers I sought, but I discovered a sliver of peace. It made all the difference.