The climb

Italian

In front of that wall of brown earth, the off-the-road vehicle stopped.

It arrived there after its wild race on a smooth track with breath taking curves.

Now, though, there was a difficult vertical climb ahead.

The motor rumbled on at the lowest gear, while it was difficult for the stop lights to be seen in the dust clouds which rose up from the rear wheels.

A short jumping sound was the only sign of shifting the gear.

Soon after, the cylinders began to spin with a loud whirl and a powerful growl rose up from the engine.

With a violent leap, movement, rapid and convinced, began again.

The tires clawed at the track of dry earth, while the vehicle inclined dangerously backward until reaching an un-natural nearly vertical slope.

Near the windshield, the muffler was open and a dense black smoke exited from it, while the roar of the motor got louder, continuing on for kilometers.

Hunks of dirt and stones flew away under the wheels as they made rapid half turns, spinning uselessly while trying to grub the road.

The water in the radiator rose until it created steam, and two threatening mustaches of white smoke appeared on top of the front cooling grill.

The first half of the climb was over.

It was not a given, though, that the rest of the climb would be successful.

If possible, the incline increased, and the danger of a destructive backward roll became hellishly serious.

Then, the movement halted. For seconds, the wheels spun in nothingness, and the auto began to tip to one side, beginning a rotation which, if completed, would lead to the inevitable rolling down to the beginning of the long climb.

With a skillful correction of the wheels, however, the straight line upward was recovered.

The tire treads clawed the earth, finding a web of tree roots to desperately hang onto, and the jeep again began to hoist its weight towards the peak, which seemed to be near: a horizon of earth under a clear blue sky.

Just a few meters more of this exhausting climb, with the motor whirling and gasping, with the first wheel finally passing over the top, then the second one right after it.

With a cat-like leap, the vehicle turned half in the air before finding itself horizontal again on a newly flat terrain.

The whirling tires began to slow, but the motor remained active to circulate the cooling, and steam, making a hissing sound, continued to exit from the radiator cap.

The last pieces of rock rolled down the dug up incline, forming puffs of dust...

Done! Irregular rumbling of the lowest gear by now seemed like a muffled laugh, the car's motor enjoying its successful efforts.

It could have seemed impossible. There were instants when everything appeared to be useless.

Courage and persistence, though, won over it all.