After 3 years away from the village, Sahil had expected to stop hearing the clink of a pick against the mountain. Its constant tink… tink… tink reverberated through the valley like an out of sync clock, rising from morning and setting from night. Sahil knew he had to see what had happened.
He trekked through the New Valley, only a few metres deep into the mountain at this point. But with five years effort, it was still an incredible feat.
Not far along, he met the man who carved it away.
“Hello, Ajay,” Sahil smiled. “Long time no see?”
The man turned around, staring blankly at Sahil. His eyes were sunk, face covered in the mountains dirt and rock. His thin shirt tore at random points, held together with loose patches. Muscle poked out only the areas that raised and dropped a pick.
“Sahil?” Ajay asked. “Well, this is a surprise! How are you?”
The two embraced. Sahil frowned at the smell, otherwise glad to see his friend.
“Work good?” Ajay commented.
“Quite well, yes,” Sahil said, removing himself with a smile. “And yours?”
Ajay looked back on the New Valley. He took a brief moment, then resolutely nodded. “It must be done.”
“But surely someone else can work on it,” Sahil pleaded. “You’ve already done so much.”
“I have to do it,” he explained. “I can’t rest until this is complete. Nor can I leave it up to someone else. They won’t have the drive like I.”
“But…” Sahil sighed. “I don’t know. Surely there is something else you can do, right? Petition the local government, call on aid, work shifts with-”
“Don’t you think I already tried that?” Ajay snapped. “I’ve tried to get people to help. They last, at most, a month. They quit when they finally realise how difficult it will actually be. And the government? Don’t make me laugh. They knew the risks of not building a hospital on this side of the mountain.”
“Ajay…”
“Would you help me?” he asked honestly. “Would you turn away from your lucrative business to assist a grieving man like me? You could afford it, right?”
Ajay stared at his old friend. Sahil stared back, unsure of what to say. He looked to the mountain. It was one thing to provide advice. Another to help enact it.
“I think you overestimate how much time and resources I have,” he tried to say as sympathetically as he could. “I can’t just-”
“Come on, you could take a weekend off. Start on the other side?”
Ajay paused.
“But you won’t.”
He shook his head.
“I don’t blame you, Sahil. I’m just trying to show you I’m the only one who can do this. You have a life to lose. I already lost my Asha. Once I’m done, no-one else will have to suffer like had once I finished.”
With that, Ajay turned his head back to the mountain, raised his pick, and swung. Rock chipped away with a chink.
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