Spontaneity Unexplained

Standing atop Mount Ruapehu, my eyes struggled to comprehend the view. The jagged purplish grey rocks seemed to stretch out endlessly, interrupted only by a few thin freshwater streams- thirsty from the lack of melted winter snow. The desert horizon was bare and red, the only movement breaking the infinite stillness the quickness of the occasional wild horse galloping out of sight.

I glanced over at the two American backpackers I’ve ended up travelling with and feel a strange sense of satisfaction at their shocked faces. It was a late Thursday afternoon midsummer, a strange time to visit a usually snowy mountain. Even stranger still when I felt my cell phone ringing in my pocket- my boss calling from six hours away in the restaurant in Wellington I worked at. She was asking if I could cover a shift that night. ‘How on earth did you end up there?’ She questioned when I explained why I couldn’t.

I said nothing, wondering the exact same thing.

After work the previous day my flatmate Jacob called to ask if I could pick him up from the city ferry terminal. Two minutes later I was shoving the bags of some American girls he’d met on the boat into the trunk of my car, agreeing to also drop them off to their hostel. Conversation got flowing and I agreed again to show them around Wellington that night. They were staying for only 12 hours and I was more than willing to proudly show them what my city was all about.

I drove them around the city to my favourite secret places; the abandoned cave at Red Rocks beach, Mt Victoria the only spot in the city with an lightless view of the Milky Way, the graffiti decorated army barracks atop Brooklyn hill, the marble Massey Memorial tomb at midnight, and of course a few of my favourite bars. The girls and I split a cheap bottle of Absolut and Jacob agreed to act as chauffeur for the rest of the night. When woke in a hostel in Taupo the next morning, it appeared he’d taken that responsibility about six hours too far.

Standing atop one of New Zealand’s tallest and most active volcanoes I squinted and raised my hand to shield my eyes from the harsh sunlight obscuring my view. Breathing the thinner air felt like almost as much as an accomplishment as climbing to the top of the mountain, the sensation icily fresh on my constricting throat. Jacob staggered across the rocks to place an arm around my shoulder. Only you would bring me here, he smiled, how did we end up here?

I said nothing, wondering the exact same thing.