Sledding Adventure Part 4

When its bitterly cold the lungs struggle to breathe in enough air.  The blood concentrates on the brain and heart and lungs, most essential, and the sinews have to manage with less oxygen.  We labored making the climb, that on a summer day one could almost run up.  At the top I told Herky to give me a minute to catch my breath.  He gasped something in reply.  Tommy Stein stayed at the bottom end of the incline so he could watch us.  He was a bit of a tough and him not wanting to sled the hill gave me pause.  I've never seen him hesitate to do something risky.  When I had the clarity to see I looked at the run.  Dark, very dark from beginning to end.  Our eyes had adjusted a while back and it still looked dark.  Small trees and shrubbery lined either side at the top to form a launch area, shielded from the wind. We were using Herkey's sled, a single sheet of hard plastic, curled up at the front. There were places to grab on the sides.
I felt afraid, I admit.  The daring of this act overflowed the boundaries of my personal comfort zone.  I almost reneged but that would mean ridicule and endless ribbing.  No bodies lined the sides of the track.  No ambulance lights oscillated at the bottom.  I read the paper for the last week and never saw an obituary or tragedy connected to this place.  No warning signs posted.  It had to be safe, right?

Getting ready to Launch into the night!