The Cookie Told Me So

It was my moment of glory; I had reached the peak of Mt. Kailash, the unconquerable mountain. As the thin mountain air filled my lungs, and permeated every part of my being, I could remember feeling a great connection with some greater existence. A feeling of pride welled up in me, and for a moment, warmed my frostbitten body. It was right at that moment that I slipped, and fell to an untimely death. As I fell, I felt shocked at how fleeting that moment of glory had been.

It had been one of the best few months of my entire life; however, it hadn?t started off that great. Life was generally tough for an out of work Mountain Climber, and to top it all, I was depressed, both emotionally and financially. My personal life was in shambles, and I felt the proverbial walls caving in on me. It was at that time that I decided to seek my most reliable coping mechanism: Food. I didn?t have a lot of money in my pocket, so I didn?t have too many options before me. The quickest and cheapest was a Chinese place down the road, and I decided that it would do quite nicely.

It was a seedy place, lacking any class or refinement; not that those things weighed heavily on my mind at the time. The food and service, however, still did and no matter how depressed you are a bad meal and an abusive waiter can and will make it worse. Needless to say, I had the happiest moment of the day when my check arrived, along with the complementary fortune cookie. The waiter made hopeless advances for a tip he was never going to get and I shooed him off with much disdain and ate my cookie. The fortune read, ?You will find happiness with a new love?, and I chuckled. It was a gloomy laugh, and got caught in my throat on the way up, and it took a tear from my eye to wash it down. I walked out of the restaurant, cursing my luck.

A couple of days of later, I bumped into an old college friend. She was the sporty type, and as I recalled, we used to enjoy the occasional game of tennis back in the Alma Mater. She was going through a tough time as well, and our mutual predicament led to an affinity for one other. As it tends to happen, one thing led to another, and before we knew it, we were going out for dinner the next Saturday.

It was a chilly evening, and I remember that I didn?t particularly care at the time. We wandered down that same street, and with all the reputable establishments either shut, or way to expensive for us, we wandered into the seedy Chinese place. The food was still awful, and my waiter was the same gentleman, which was unfortunate, since I hadn?t tipped the chap the time before. But these minor details didn?t bother me that day, nothing much did, and even the god-awful food couldn?t dent my spirits. The bill arrived, along with a fuming waiter. I?m sure he had already spat into my plate a couple of times. I tipped him whatever little I had, which included a pack of breath mints, and made my peace. The complementary fortune cookies were brought to us. I opened mine. It read, ?You will reach new heights in your career.? I gave a wry smile as we left the establishment.

The next week, I got my first big break. There was an expedition leading for Everest, to commemorate the Fiftieth Anniversary of Hillary?s climb. One of the members had met with an unfortunate accident, and I had been offered his place. It was my first climb in months, and I eagerly took the opportunity. I left for Nepal the next month, after intensive training and acclimatization. On the flight, my mind could not help but wander to thoughts of fortune cookies. The hand of god seemed to be behind my latest run of luck, and manifested itself in the form of fortune cookies. But I was not a god-fearing person, and didn?t think the good Lord?s mysterious ways covered bad eating joints and the vagaries of a novelty food. I brushed the cookies of as a coincidence, after all, some fortunes had to come true. It was just a matter of probability.

It was a long and hard climb, and we had met with many an obstacle. A snowstorm midway up had nearly killed us all, and it was thanks to my perseverance that we got out of there alive. We eventually reached the peak, a triumphant group that joined an elite few to climb that mountain.

When I reached base camp, She was there waiting for me. It was one of the happiest times of my life, at least the happiest I could remember. We spent another two weeks in Kathmandu, walking the streets and visiting the sites. The Buddhist temples had a certain charm about them. A week later, we stumbled into a Szechwan restaurant, and obliged ourselves. Chinese food was high on our priority list, and the Szechwan style was our mutual favourite. For a change, the food was excellent, and the waiter was an all-knowing type, who gave the noble air of a man borne to serve. With his divine advice of the chef?s best dishes, we navigated our way through some fantastic cuisine. The bill, fortunately, was not equally fantastic, and a healthy tip awaited our Jeevesque waiter. The complementary fortune cookies were next, along with a few pieces of candied ginger. The ginger was very nice, and it cleared my ailing throat. After I sang a brief ditty to test my newfound bono vox, we ate our cookies. She opened hers. It read, ?Faith can move mountains?. We had a little laugh about it, and I indiscreetly ate mine. With uncharacteristic nonchalance, I crumpled my fortune in my hand and dropped it in the confines of my pockets.

The next few days were lovely. On our last scheduled day in Kathmandu, I received a call from the Royal Mountaineers. They were organising a first expedition to challenge Mount Kailash, and after my recent showing at Everest, I was offered to lead the expedition. It would be a tough climb, near impossible, but I felt great faith that I could conquer the mountain. I had never felt surer about anything in my entire life. As I walked down the dusty street, feeling like a million dollars, a crumpled piece of paper dropped out of my coat pocket. It folded out on the street, and simply read, ?Pride comes before a fall.?

I love the ending.