The Magic of Monsters

"Come on, Pandy. This will be an adventure we will never forget," Sidney explained to her friend as she sat on the couch studying her laptop screen intensely. Her fingers were frantically typing out the words 'Mount Ebott' into a Google search engine.

"I don't know," Pandora replied while also sitting on the burgundy couch next to Sidney. "Haven't you heard the stories about that place?"

Pandora stared at Sidney questioningly. Did she really think climbing Mount Ebott was a good idea? Rumors had spread about the mountain being extremely dangerous and causing many of the most experienced climbers to mysteriously disappear. Anyone who had traveled to the ominous mountain, had suddenly vanished. They never came back from their journey.

"Yes, but aren't you curious?" Sidney questioned, blue eyes still glued to the laptop screen. "Think about it. We might actually be the first people who finally uncover the mystery. This is the opportunity of a life time!" She squeals with glee.

Sid was always the type of girl who always liked to travel to unique places. She was similar to a small child who wanted to know everything about anything. Her curiosity knew no bounds.

"You're crazy!" Pan exclaims. She had snickered as she ate some popcorn from the bowl sitting in the middle of the couch. She watched as her friend's expression turned into a slight frown. Pan couldn't tell if her best friend was frowning at her comment or at the many articles that popped up on her computer screen which described people who had never returned from their journey to the mountain. Either way, she didn't like to see her friend discouraged even if her ideas were a bit wacky.

"Pan," Sid begins with her tone suddenly becoming a bit more serious."Do you remember the first time we went sky diving together?" She asked.

Pan knew where her friend was going with this conversation. The two friends always shared this discussion right before they embarked on some crazy adventure together. Sid would bring this up every single time Pan felt scared or unsure about trying something new. It never got old.

"Yes, I remember," Pan answered back and let out a pained sigh, waiting for her friend to give the usual motivational speech.

"Then you should remember when I told you to have the courage to face your fears and try new things in life. Don't ever let fear hold you back in life," Sid continues to lecture, while sitting up straight on the couch. "Life is about the experiences you share with people. We can't just sit around here waiting to die," She concluded.

On that note, Sid shoved a bunch of popcorn into her mouth. A few crumbs fell onto the couch, but she couldn't care less.

"Speak for yourself," Pan snorted. "I'd rather sit here on this couch and stay completely safe, than to get lost forever on some creepy mountain." She huffed as her head was filled with terrifying scenarios. Each one involving a gruesome fall from a ledge, causing the two girls to become seriously injured with no chance of someone coming to their rescue. She didn't want to continue thinking about it.

"That's the fear talking again," Sid scolded her companion as she took another chomp of pop corn without a care in the world. Pan gave her a sight smile and shook her head.

"Unbelievable," Pan blurts out. She lets out a soft chuckle, her brown orbs finally meeting Sid's electric blue eyes. "You're actually serious about this." She joked. She knew that look in Sid's eye. It was the look of absolute determination. Nothing was going to change her friend's mind about exploring the dangerous mountain, but that didn't stop Pan from trying.

"Deadly serious," Sid said with amusement. She gave her friend a sly wink, which caused Pan to roll her eyes dramatically. Now, she knew for sure that her friend must be clinically insane.

"Don't joke around like that. This is not a good idea," Pan continued as her tone was now laced with concern. "I know that we have traveled to some insane places, but I have a bad feeling about this one, Sid. Nobody comes back from that place. What if something bad happens to us?" She questioned and was terrified at the thought of being trapped on a mountain and then starving to death or worse with her best friend. It wasn't like they were just visiting a haunted prison or even doing another sky diving trip. This seemed much more risky with the fact that nobody even knew what was on the mysterious mountain. Sasquatch could be living up there, for all they knew.

Sid sighed and slouched on the couch, appearing to be in deep thought over her companion's concerns. She tucked a strand of bright red hair behind her ear and placed the laptop on the couch that they shared.

The old ugly couch brought back memories. Pan remembered buying the old burgundy couch together when they first became roommates. The first time Sid gazed at that damn ugly thing, she refused to buy anything else. Pan had given up fighting her over it. Once Sid had her heart set on something, that was it. Thus, the old burgundy couch ended up as a new addition to their humble home.

"You are really set on doing this together, huh?" Pan inquired and took another glance over at her friend, seeing a small smile form on her lips.

"Duh, I wouldn't be desperately trying to convince you if I wasn't," Sid replied with a wide grin spreading across her face. She knew Pan was giving up on this fight. This is what usually happened between them. Her blue eyes looked at her expectantly.

"Fine. We will check out this spooky mountain," Pan spoke up, letting her best bud win the argument in the end. She silently regretted it although her friend was practically beaming next to her. "Ok, but we have to be prepared. We don't know what's up there. Sid, you better not get us both killed," She said and shot Sid a glare. She always gave in to her crazy requests. This was just another thing that Sid would drag her into. She never completely had the heart to refuse her best friend. Besides, even if she did refuse to go, then Sid would likely just end up hiking up the mountain on her own. That wasn't an idea Pan liked to entertain.

"Well, I haven't gotten us killed yet," Sid says and smirks back at her, leaning over to give her a reassuring hug. "I have faith in us," She declared and then preceded to wrap her arms around Pan's tense shoulders. A few pieces of left over pop corn fell off of her shirt and landed in Pan's lap in the process.

"I hope you're right," Pan sighed. She was slightly annoyed at the pop corn mess but reached over to hug Sid anyway. "God, I hope you're right about this one, She mumbled anxiously. Her eyes slipped shut as Sid gave her small comforting pats on her back.