I stopped exhausted with my gaze on the top of the mountain, there, in the distance, I saw the waving flag that seemed to make fun of me, "maybe I should abandon the climb" I thought, dropping my shoulders and my head sticking my chin to my chest. My legs buckled but I made an effort not to fall to my knees, more out of shame than out of will since three people passed by very close, it was a young couple and an older man who stopped and turned to see me.
"Are you ok, friend?" Asked the concerned man.
"Yeah, I'm just getting a little rest," I lied, gasping for air. "What I need is to drink some water".
"Today's heat is unbearable," said the teenage girl.
I nodded, drinking water from my canteen. In my mind I imagined what they thought:
"Look at that poor fat man is totally exhausted, he should go home to watch television"
The girl kept talking about the hot weather and then her partner complemented her arguments, what I wanted was for them to leave, to leave me alone and then return home, watch TV and wallow in anger and frustration at failing for the fifth time, for not being able to reach the goal and take that flag and feel proud of myself, knowing that I could do difficult things and lose weight.
The three people instead of following their path approached me, "Are you going to the flag?" Asked the man extending his hand and introducing himself, his name was Samuel, then he introduced me to the couple, they were his son and his girlfriend, Robert and Clara.
"I'm going to the flag, but I'm waiting for a friend who has lagged behind, he asked me to continue but it's taking him a long time to catch up," I lied again, "I think I'll go down to find him".
"Ah, what a pity, but is your friend very far away?" Roberto asked.
"If you want, we can accompany you and go up to the top together," Clara continued as Samuel affirmed with his head.
"Don't worry, please, I'll go find my friend," I said reluctantly, "continue your way, thank you."
I turned my back on them and started to go down the mountain, every step I took made me feel bad, not physically but emotionally, I felt self-reproach, then I started to think about how stupid I had been, so I turned around and yelled at them to wait for me.
"I don't think my friend wants to go up, it's been a long time," I said with shame, "I want to go up with you."
The four of us began to climb the famous Hill of the Flag, it was called like that because of the immense flag that was on its top, it was said that the person who touched the flag would have good luck in life, the beautiful mountain and the challenge of climbing attracted a lot of tourists.
As we ascended, I noticed that Roberto was walking irregularly, he seemed to have a limp on his right leg, then I realized that he had a prosthesis from the knee down, little by little I got to know them and inadvertently began to befriend them. Samuel had survived cancer just eight months ago, they were extraordinary people.
When I had advanced enough I began to feel exhausted again, my legs ached and I thought that I could not continue the climb, but they gave me strength, they stopped to wait for me to regain strength, we sat down to rest on the slopes and Clara spoke about the nature that surrounded us, Samuel told me that when one pursues a goal, one must enjoy the road, to make the trip more pleasant, we get less tired and we can resist obstacles.
Then we continued our journey and after an hour we were reaching the top, I could not believe it when I saw the flag, this time it waved as if it was welcoming me, I touched it together with my friends and burst into tears, I had achieved my goal. I confessed to them all the lies I had told them and what I had thought of them and I apologized.
That day my life changed, I made three new friends who gave me an example of perseverance in the face of obstacles. I lost fifty kilograms of weight and got in shape thanks to them. Every year the four of us climbed the mountain, I learned to live fully and enjoy the journey on the path of achieving my goals.
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