They had been moving forward for half an hour. The dog led the way and Dana followed in her car. There was nobody around. Not a soul. Dana opened the window to listen to the sounds of the night but the only thing she could hear was the sound of the car’s engine and the wheels on the street. After a while she realized that they started moving uphill and then she knew where the dog was taking her. Up on the mountain overlooking the city and the great ocean. She had never visited the giant that stood no more that half a mile from the city but now it seemed that she would eventually. They kept their slow pace uphill until they reached the end of the road and the dog stopped. He turned to look at Dana as if he was telling her to come out and join him. She hesitated but it seemed that he had already magnetized her enough to follow him anywhere.

She was never the one to take risks. She always preferred safe options and paths literally and metaphorically. However, this night was not any night. Never before had she felt so alert and hypnotized at the same time. Never before had she felt so intrigued, curious and afraid. She couldn’t remember a time that she simply felt so much alive and challenged. That was it. She was challenged.

She stepped outside taking a flashlight that she kept in the car for an emergency and approached the dog.
“Ok. You brought me here.” She said to the dog decisively.
Once again the dog turned around and began walking up a steep path on the rocks.
“Great! Now we’re going climbing.” She said to herself but followed the dog on the path.

As they were moving up the mountain Dana noticed that the fog was not as thick as before but when she looked lower she realized that they just moved away from it. However, the atmosphere was still really humid and she could feel it on her skin. Her breathing was becoming labored and her hair was already wet. Some of the loose strands were stuck on her face and they tickled her but that was the least of her concerns. She just wished this whole thing was not just a stupid mistake, that it was not the first and the last risk she would ever take.
The path was becoming steeper and she started using one of her hands to move while trying to light up the way with the flashlight she was holding in the other. The dog kept on moving sending little stones and dust towards Dana who followed quite closely behind.
“I’m gonna have fun coming down. Maybe I’ll get lucky and break my neck” she said to herself sarcastically.
Few minutes later the dog climbed on a huge flat rock and sat waiting for Dana. She arrived almost crawling and stood next to the sitting dog breathing heavily. Initially she was too concentrated on her breathing and the little cut on the palm of her right hand to notice the sight in front of her. But when she did she stood there frozen to the spot until tears appeared in her eyes.