Aster paced the cliff edge, fingers snapping. Fifty feet below him now, the man in black still climbed. Aster's impatience was beginning to bubble beyond control. He was stared down at the slow progress, with fear at seeing the height. Find a crevice, jam in the hand, fin another crevice, jam in the other hand; forty-eight feet to go. Aster slapped his sword handle, and his fingers snapping began to go faster. He examined the hooded climber, half hoping he would be six-fingered, but no; this one had the proper accompaniment of digits.
Forty-seven feet to go now.
Now forty-six
"Hello there," Aster hollered when he could not wait any longer. He tried his best to keep his eyes on the man in black and not of the giant height.
The man in black glanced up and grunted .
"I've been watching you."
The man in black nodded.
"Slow going," Aster said.
"Look I don't mean to be rude," the man in black said finally, "but I'm rather busy just now, so try not to distract me."
"I'm sorry ," Aster said.
The man in black grunted again.
"I don't suppose you could speed thing up?" Aster said.
"If you want to speed things up so much," the man in black said, clearly quiet angry now," you could lower a rope or a tree branch or something or find some other helpful thing to do."
"I could do that," Aster agreed. "But I don't think you would accept my help, since I'm only waiting up here so that I can kill you."
"That does put a damper on our relationship," the man in black said then. "I'm afraid you'll just have to wait."
"I hate waiting," Aster mumbled to himself.
Forty-five feet left.
Forty-one.
"I could give you my words as a Australian," Aster said.
"No good," the man in black replies. "I've known too many Australians."
"I'm going crazy up hear," Aster said.
"Anytime you want to change places, I'd be more than happy to accept."
Thirty-five feet. And resting.
the man in black just hung in space, feet dangling, the entire weight of his body supported by the strength of his hand jammed into the crevice.
"Come along now," Aster pleaded.
"It's been a bit of a climb," the man in black explained, "and I'm weary. I'll be fine in a quarter-hour or so."
Another quarter-hour! Inconceivable. "Look, we've got a piece of extra rope up here we didn't need when we made our original climb, I'll just drop it down to you and you grab hold and I'll pull and-"
"No good," the man in black repeated. "You might pull, but then again, you also just might let go, which, since you're in a hurry to kill me, would certainly do the job quickly."
"But you wouldn't have ever known I was going to kill you if I hadn't been the one to tell you. Doesn't that let you know I can be trusted?"
"Frankly, and I hope you wont be insulted, no."
"There's no way you'll trust me?"
"Nothing comes to mind."
YOU ARE READING
The Princess Bride
FanfictionWhen Jamie is sick with the flue on the Christmas holiday's all he can do is play his videos games and eat his meals that his mother has made him. He never planned on his father reading him, a book. This one book was a story that was read to father...
