Rise Above

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She thought she climbed high enough. Thought they could never reach her. She'd taken the farthest path, the highest road. For days and weeks, it seemed, she trekked. The air grew thin, the horizon broadened. She stopped to take in the view.

"Yes," she sighed, "I think I'll be fine here."

Almost in that same moment, she noticed the arrow. Had that been there all along? Surely, she would have noticed it. And she would have known. Known she hadn't climbed high enough. She would have kept going. She wouldn't have stopped.

And yet there it was. They had found her. She looked back at the path. Would she ever out run them? Would she ever find a place high enough? Doubt filled her soul.

As turned to look back at the magnificent view one last time, she noticed it. Another tree, another arrow. She knew this would always be so.

Climb higher or stand? She knew the answer. It was truly the only answer. The high road was the only road. She would climb as high as she needed. She'd made that decision long ago. As tired as she was and as much as she wished she could just stop, she knew she couldn't.

"Rise above," she thought. "Rise above."

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