Chapter 3
"Cold cold cold cold..." Paul mumbled to himself as he slipped on his ski boots. (Picture them in their Help! clothes, even though this is only 1964, just imagine them in those clothes). The Fab Four were at the base of the chairlift. This chairlift was their ticket to ride, the only way they could get close to touching the majestic and picturesque watercolors of the sky, the closest thing earth has to heaven. It was only 10:30 am, the watercolors had not yet even been touched by the sun's twilight paintbrush, yet the sight was still resplendent, dazzling, breathtaking. The blue sky reflected onto their eyes, the clouds danced in their minds, the wind gently blew by, giving them a sense of security and comfort.
They finished putting on their boots. They latched on their skis. Now came the hard part.
How to move with those darn things attached to their feet.
"Locked in!" John cried happily. "Just one problem mates."
"What's that John?" George asked, leaning on both ski poles.
"Now what??"
"Ok, quick ski lesson!" Ringo announced.
"It's still too cold!" Paul complained. Ringo ignored that now trite comment.
"Basics lads, basics. To slow when coming down the hill, make your skis into an A shape, like a wedge. Then do a hockey stop and turn your body so you're sideways to the hill, skis pointed slightly pward toward the hill. Just shift your weight back and forth when you turn. To get on the chairlift, wait for the chair to pass you, quickly slide forward to the indicated line, hold your poles in one hand, look back and grab on to the chairlift, and sit your bum down. Hang on for dear life and don't forget to breathe. Any questions?" Ringo asked.
"Could you start over?" John asked, idly scratching his head. Then a smile creeped on his face.
"Yeah, Ringo, how did you know all of that?" George asked.
"Oh, heh, I saw it on TV and Neil helped me write it down. Are we ready then?"
"As ready as we'll ever be Ritchie!" John replied.
"I'll be ready, once I can feel my fingers!" Paul whined.
"Paul, just focus on having a gear time, ok?" George asked. "Don't worry, we'll help you out."
"Thanks lads." The four of them planted their poles in the snow and pushed their way to the lift.
"How come there's no one here? You'd think that the fans would know by now!" John commented, looking up at the sun. He donned on his cool shades, yet to be morphed into his famed 'granny' specs.
"Oh, we're at the private lift...and you see that lift way over there? That one is ours too. It was pre-arranged beforehand, isn't it great?" Ringo asked.
"Yeah!" George said. Paul simply nodded.
"All right, whatever happens lads, stick together, stay on the designated areas, if we get separated, meet here at 4:30 pm. It gets dark early up here. Do we all have our watches?"
"Yeah, we do Ring. Now enough with the lecturing, let's go!" John motioned to the lift. Following Ringo's words of wisdom about this new and novel sport of skiing, they managed to get thru. Since the lift was a two person per seat lift, John paired with Ringo and Paul paired with George.
The chairlift carried the four Beatles to the top. It was a long ride, but well worth the wait. Their eight skis dangling from heights unreachable by man without help from technology. Their eight poles held tightly in one hand, while the other hand gripped the seats for dear life. John and Ringo were carrying on a conversation, and so George decided to relieve Paul of his cold anxiety.
"Paul? Are you ok? You need an'thing luv?" George asked sincere with concern.
"I'm just a little scared, and a little cold, but you knew that already." Paul said, trying to bury his face in his candy-caned colored scarf that all four of them wore. But what was unique about them was they had their initials stitched on them.
"Don't be scared Paul, I think we all are, even Johnny over there. It's our first time, and it's good to try new things now and then, don'tcha think?"
"Sure, but I wish it didn't have to be so cold while we were at it."
"That's ok Paul, here. Have my extra pair of gloves. I think John's got 'nother scarf with his initials on them that you could use too."
"Thanks George, you're a lifesaver. Give them to me when we get to the top."
"You know, what do we do when we get there?" George and Paul both wondered aloud. They both looked at each other, their beautiful eyes wide with fear.
"Ringo!!!!" They both cried out. The name echoed across the hillside. Ringo and John quickly looked behind them at the occupants of the seat behind him.
"What do you need!!" Ringo called out, trying to hear them above the squeeking noise of the lift.
"How do we get off of this thing!" Paul called out.
"Once you see the landing point, get up and slide down turning right! There's going to be a line indicating where you should stand up! Do it quickly too!" Ringo replied.
"Ok, I guess that's not that bad, thanks Ringo!" George thanked him.
At this, the four of them successfully got off the lift and turned to the right. They stood at the summit of the hill. They inhaled the cool, fresh air and relaxed a bit. Then Paul looked down the hill.
"Ahh!"
"What happened Paulie?" George asked.
"Look! It's so steep! It's so hard, I can't do this, no no no, there is no way you will get me down this hill, uh uh, not doing it!" Paul crossed his arms, tucking his hands which held a pole each.
"But Paul, this is only the bunny slope, the easiest slope around," Ringo replied.
"You mean they get steeper than this??"
"Um, this is not very steep Paulie...are you hallucinating? Are you ok? You're not thinking rationally like the Paul I always know...Those mind games again, getting to ya?" John asked.
"Yeah, I think so, I think that I'm just scared."
"Paul, I know a way to get you down this hill!" George smiled craftily.
"Don't rush me tho--ahhh!" Paul screamed as he was pushed off the top of the mountain. He felt himself gliding/speeding down the hill, images fleeting by. "George!! I'm going to get you for thiiiss!"
"Let's go mates, his highness just got a headstart!" George laughed playfully. The three followed Paul, but carefully and turning left and right on their skis. Paul just zoomed down straight like a rocket.
But even though the three skiied down ever so carefully, ever so cautiously...
...they collided into each other and they landed in the soft and cottony snow.
They all burst out laughing.
"Ringo! I thought you were the expert here! Yer the one crashing into us!" John remarked benignly.
"What do ya mean, me, ya bugger? You were the one in your shades!" Ringo shot back in the same tone.
"I knew it! It was the both of you! It was all your fault!"
"I think that we should have Geo be our scapegoat instead!" John knocked off George's top hat and mussed up his hair.
"See what you get George! It's your own Instant Karma!" said a voice from above the threesome.
"Hey, how did you get down safely?!" George looked up, blocking the sun from his eyes. He put his top hat back on.
"Well, it was kinda easy. You pushed me down, and it felt great! Of course, at the first moment you pushed me I thought I was gonna throw up, but anyway! Here, I'll show you how it's done," Paul offered willingly as he helped each of them up.
Soon, after a bit of Macca training, they were all pretty good, acquiring various tricks to improve on their own skill. The hours passed, they ate lunch at 12:45 p.m., and continued to have fun skiing, with the occasional fall here and there. It was now 4:28 p.m. They gathered at the front of the lift, where they were
that morning.
"Whew! What a splendid day! Did we all have fun?" Ringo asked, planting his poles in the snow.
"Yeah, fab gear man!" John removed his shades and imitation French beret.
"Are we going to quit now?" George asked curiously.
"I should think so, it's nearly 4:30 now, and it gets dark quick too..." Ringo said as he glanced at his watch that was partially covered in frost.
"Please please, can I go one more time? Please? The last time!" George pleaded.
"I don't know Geo, it's late I told you already..." Ringo said slowly.
"Hey, no problem mates, don't worry. I'll go with Geo for the last round, you lads just wait 'ere and we'll be back soon!" Paul piped up.
"Paul? You'd be willing to do that fer me?" George asked.
"Yeah, it was a lot more fun that I had anticipated mate, and you've helped me too, with getting better all the time. So I'll go with you one more time. Even if me hands are so cold," Paul smiled.
"Ok, but come back quick!" John warned. "I don't want to stay out here the entire night waiting for you!" He kidded with them as he sat in the snow.
"All right John, we won't let you wait too long!" George said. "Paulie, can we go on the other lift?"
"Sure, I guess that's ok...it goes up higher you know, just a little bit," Paul started.
"That's ok, I'll be with ya the whole time!" George pleaded again.
"Well, I don't see what's wrong with that...Ringo and John will have to move over there so they can keep an eye on us!"
"Thanks George, I just sat down!" Ringo complained.
"C'mon Ring, let's move over there," John said. "You guys go on ahead, we'll watch from down 'ere!"
George and Paul took the lift up to the top of the mountain, even closer to heaven than the other previous mountain. The sun began to paint the iridescent colors with its twilight brush, ribbons of pink, orange, blue, red and gold began to intertwine with the clouds. The wind picked up and help spread the opalescent scene over the whole canvas called the sky.
"It's so pretty up here Paul...I wish I could do this anytime at all..."
"I know how you feel Geo, it's not often that we get to enjoy a sunset, well, almost sunset, up close, in Norway, the Land of the Midnight Sun."
"It's really beautiful, it's all too much for me to take!"
"You'll see more beautiful sights later Geo, keep these memories safe in your mind so you can go back anytime you please. Remember the things we said today. Here, get up!" Paul and George got off the lift and stood at the apex of the grandiose mountain.
"*Sigh* This doesn't happen everyday, where I feel so calm and peaceful and happy where I am. Even if it's not England, but close to home," George commented. "Are we ready to go down the hill? John-John and Ringo will be worrying about us. It's five minutes past 4:30."
"You go ahead George, I wanna take a minute for meself, I promise I'll be down and catch up to ya."
"Paul, I don't think that's a good idea..."
"Mate, don't worry, I'll be fine. I'll be there in a minute."
"A minute is too long for me to wait for a friend who might be in trouble Paul."
"But I'm not in trouble though, I'll be fine, I'm ok, I can do it. Besides, the lights that light up the hill are on. You go ahead, and I'll be with ya ASAP."
"But if you fell, if you got lost, if you..."
"George, I'm not going to keep you waiting! Right now, we're having Johnny and Ritchie waiting for us down there, and this conversation is wasting time."
"But Paulie..."
"Not a second time, George."
"All right, I'll go...but you better be hot on me trail, you have to follow me once I start going down the hill!"
"I will George, just gimme a second here."
"Right, see you at the bottom Paul!" George began to ski down the hill. A mist was forming over the mountain like a satiny blanket. Paul waited 'til his mate was out of sight. He looked up at the sky.
The ribbons of color were slowly fading, and their creator began to sink in the west. A navy splash seeped thru the sky, coloring it with its navy ink. The moon was slowly waking, waking up his little stars friends, the diamonds as they were called, but were more precious than the real stone themselves. Paul looked up at the peaceful sight; it mesmerized him...the comforting wind blew again, the stars sparkled and beckoned to him as they began ice skating on his transfixed eyes. Two stars remained in his two organs that provided him with vision, giving him that indescribable twinkle; too much happiness cannot be explained in words...the feeling inside of him was unparalleled to whatever he had experienced before. No matter how cold he was, he had a warm feeling slowly well up inside of him. Time had no definition or significance any longer, the moon caused some rational thought to slip away from the mind's grasp. As he saw a shooting star glide thru the silk of navy above him, he awoke from his lulling reverie and realized...
...he had broken his promise...
...he didn't keep his word...
...he kept the three waiting and worrying about him...
...but he cherished and loved every minute of standing at that zenith, drowning in pure peace.
He quickly speeded down the hill to meet the others. A smile never left his face.
Chapter 4
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