A Hiking Trip - Essay Example

Have you ever been in a situation that caused your heart to pound like a drum? Recently, I’ve gone through one such situation. Although a week has passed since the incident, yet my heart still starts to race at the slightest thought of the day.
A few days ago, my older cousin, Oliver, was in town. He invited me and my younger brother, Sam, on a hiking trip with him. The idea was not particularly intriguing to us, like every other weekend we go out on a hiking trip with our family. Seeing our reluctance, Oliver promised that it will be an entirely new experience. Since we had no special plans for the weekend, we halfheartedly decided to go with Oliver. To our surprise, with every passing second, we became more and more excited about the trip. And so, the night before the trip, we failed to contain our excitement and hardly fell asleep.
Sliding into the front seat next to Oliver, I grabbed the biggest burger and started munching instantly. In all the excitement, I forgot to pass over Sam’s share in the back seat. A questioning look on Oliver’s face made me realize what I had missed doing. Therefore, I passed Sam his burger; I felt embarrassed. After that, our journey began. As I watched the car drive through the same route, my heart sunk. It was the same route we took almost every weekend with our family. But when Oliver did not take the last turn, the excitement returned. I knew we were headed for “different”. After twenty-five minutes’ drive, we stopped at a roadside densely lined with trees. It seemed like a jungle. When Oliver got out of the car, I realized it was the starting point of our trip. The plan was to meet our usual hiking trail but through the jungle.
Taking only a few steps into the trees, we found ourselves standing amidst a dense forest. The sounds of birds, insects and animals echoed all around us. Thick vegetation grew everywhere. The shelter of leaves blocked the sun, so it was slightly darker. The air was damp and had a strange smell. Oliver was leading the way, and we were tracing his steps. Sam was in front of me. The way Oliver was making his way through the bushes and trees was admirable as I could hardly see any path. I was following Sam without blinking an eye. A strange sound as if someone or something was close behind made me stop and look in that direction. I intently listened for the sound but did not hear or see anything strange. The entire activity was hardly more than a few seconds, but when I resumed my gaze, I could not see Sam anywhere. My feet froze. My heart started pounding so hard that it drowned all the sounds that surrounded me. The realization struck me that I was alone in the middle of a jungle full of wild creatures. It was either a figment of my imagination or real – I saw a snake intertwined around a branch of a tree only two feet away from me. I could not find the strength to move. I do not know how long I stood there. But some time later, I saw two figures rushing in my direction. It was Sam and Oliver. Sam hugged me tightly and asked me to calm down. I realized that I had been calling out his name at the top of my lungs. Once I calmed down, we resumed our journey. This time I did not take my eyes off Sam. Throughout the way, both of them teased me about how fragile my heart was. In about an hour, we caught up with our usual hiking trail. After that, we went back to the car and headed home.
The clear blue sky looked beautiful. I felt a sense of freedom and tranquillity. I am glad I took that trip with Oliver. Nevertheless, I think one trip of the kind is enough for me. Read More