Mountain

He stood and looked out the window. He had a freshly poured cup of coffee in hand, the steam spiralling. He had not long since moved into his new house. He had yet to put his own stamp on it, to do things that truly marked it out as his own, to cast his own eccentric personality on the place. The tv was in a corner facing the sofa on a perfectly ordinary stand. His duvet was plain, devoid of personality.
His first major project was to be his garden though. As he looked out, his land was flat. In every possible way. It was completely uninspiring. Most importantly though, it was a blank canvas. When he had moved into this house, he had chosen it on a number of criteria. Money wasn't an issue, however he wanted a place with a large rear garden so he could stretch his legs. This garden was huge. Approximately three football fields in size. Many thoughts had crossed his mind. He could put a running track round the garden? That way he could keep himself fit. He could build a swimming pool? The British weather wasn't synonymous with outdoor swimming though. Maybe chalk out an actual football field? Football wasn't much fun on your own though. What he truly missed was having someone to share it all with.
A thought popped into his head. Its was great idea, and seemed to be made with cement as it stuck in his mind. That day he went out and bought further land. He started building upwards. His initial thought was a bike track with lots of jumps. He carried on building upwards. The land got higher and higher. While the sheer size was now impressive, he wanted to make it look incredible. He added the most vibrant flowers that seemed to dance even in the lightest of breeze. He added trees. The sound of the wind through the leaves was, to him, the sound of magic. Birds came to sit on the branches and sing to others of their new-found home. He carried on building upwards with a passion and desire. Every night he looked out his window and gazed at the scale of the mountain he was building and looked on it with absolute awe and excitement. Every morning was now becoming a hike just to reach the summit now. It had been made with earth, he had planted flowers and trees, he had used rocks as big as boulders and shards as small as gravel to hold it all; it had been battered by high winds, heavy rain and intense sunshine, yet still he wasn't finished. He was also building it with his passion, this mountain literally contained his blood, sweat and tears. The top was now tickling the underside of the clouds. He scaled his mountain and looked with wonder at the scenes from every angle at the top. He was immensely proud. There was only one thing missing. He needed someone to share the view with. It felt in his heart he was only viewing everything at 90%. The colours were slightly dulled. The wind was that touch more bland. The sunshine was that much more unexpressive.
He was walking through town the next day. His mind not focused on much, he had his eyes fixed to the floor in front of him and his calming music playing counterintuitivley loud. The one thought that vaguely flitting through his mind was that he was hungry and a bacon sandwich would satisfy that urge, so he let his feet carry him on his route to the local sandwich shop. As he walked through the door, he bumped into someone and as soon as he looked at her, the whole world seemed to melt away. He felt like fireworks were going off inside him, yet felt absolutely serene, like gentle waves lapping at a beach on a hot day. She was looking at him the same way he looked at her. He opened his mouth to say sorry, but as he couldnt remember the word, he closed it again and just hungrily gazed at her. With a giggle, she smiled and apologised. She didn't move though, and it was as good as an invite to talk to her. He introduced himself and offered to buy her another pastie. She hadn't dropped hers, there was no reason for him to ask that, but it seemed like the right thing to do. In seemingly just a blink of an eye later, they were sipping a coffee together, laughing and talking about each other. Another mere blink of an eye later, or what mortals call a week (he had no concept of time at the minute, every thought had been about her) they walked together through his doorway. She looked out the window and was astounded by the mountain in front of her. They started hiking the mountain and in what seemed like record time, they reached the summit. It was the happiest moment of his life. His pride and joy, his hardest work, the mountain he had put his soul into, now he had someone to share it with. He took a deep breath, mustered all his courage, and went to hold her hand. She smiled. She moved closer to him, rested her head on his shoulder and told him "I want to spend every day here with you, looking at this".
The next few months were a whirlwind of passion, intimacy and love. Every day they would climb the mountain. Every day they would descend. Every day they got to the bottom, made a cup of coffee and spent the rest of the evening playfully enjoying each others company.
The day had started like any other. He woke when the first sunlight crept under the curtains. He turned and looked at the woman he was so intensely in love with and sat up on the edge of his bed. He put his slippers on and groggily made his way to the bathroom. He brushed his teeth, combed his hair and with a final crack of his back, he was ready for the day. He woke her up with a kiss, and made his way downstairs to make her a coffee while she was getting dressed. They got dressed and made their way up the mountain. On their way back down, he slightly stumbled and slightly hissed under his breath. "I've always hated the way you make that hiss" she said, with a slight furrow in her brow. This annoyed Gabriel, and with his mind not focused on his next step, he tripped on a small stone and part of the mountain crumbled away. The next day, on their way back down, an acorn fell from a tree and struck his ear. He slightly inhaled through gritted teeth, it had hurt! She grumbled something under her breath and the atmosphere became slightly agitated after that. He tripped again, and yet again, a part of the mountain crumbled. This continued over the following weeks, with the atmosphere becoming slightly more disarming every day. His mind slightly scrambled, he found it more difficult to keep his footing and greater amounts of mountain crumbled away. They set off one day and he deliberately stayed a few steps behind her.
Over the coming months, the mountain crumbled until it was nothing. The day had finally arrived. He looked in her eyes and between them was nothing but bitterness. She slammed the door on her way out, the smashed coffee mug scattered all over the floor, and her final act in his life. He put his hands in his pockets, and head down, walked into the middle of his garden. Where once there had been a magnificent mountain, there was nothing but barren emptiness. A tear stained his face in the memory of what was. By by