“ Finding a way into tricky situations has never been a problem for me – although I still haven’t learned the art of getting out of them.” I say casually as I dangle off a 100 foot cliff. My only hope of safety is this harness fastened to my waist and my best friend below me. If the scraggly tree I’m attached to at the top of the cliff breaks, I’m dead meat. If I do fall, a shorter rope connects me to Oliver dangling ten feet below me. Hopefully his tree doesn’t break too.

“True dat.” He responds from below. “But you know, Molly, you could try a little harder. “

“What do you mean!” I call back with a laugh, knowing exactly what he means. I, Molly Mockingbird, have a habit of not caring.

“Whatever.” He responds. “Let’s just find the fossil, take a picture, and get out of here.”

Oliver and I are paleontologists. So when we heard about a lost dinosaur fossil off the coast of Mexico, we had to come check it out.

We continue repelling down the sheer cliff side, the ocean making subtle waves below us. After a few minutes, Oliver calls out.

“Found it!”

As I lengthen my rope to join him, I feel a jerk and a pull. Suddenly I am ten feet below Oliver, swaying dangerously close to the cliff.

“Woah!” He calls. “did your rope break?”

“ I think so.” I say, putting my hands out to prevent from colliding with the rock.

“Just hold on.” He proceeds to take some pictures of the fossil while I look around. Down below, the tents of our camp seem minuscule from way up here. Our colleagues mingle about, doing research and such. Smoke rises up from a grill beneath, and I get a whiff of hot dog. To my right, I see a birds nest settled on a jagged outcropping of the cliff. A little head peeks out, and I give a wave. The head disappears. I sigh and crane my neck to look at Oliver. “How’s it going up there?” I ask.

“Done!” He says triumphantly. “Now how do we get down?”

“I don’t know. Usually your the brains of an operation.”

I glance down at the ocean below us, thinking hard. Starting to panic, I yell up at Oliver.

“Can you pull me up?”

He tries. “Nope.”

Pulling out my phone, I call Carl. (He’s our boss down at the camp.)

“Carl!” I say into the phone. “We’re stuck . My rope broke and Ollie can’t pull me up.”

Mumbles from the other end of the line. I wait for another minute, listening. “Ok.” I say, hanging up.

“What’d he say!” Oliver asks.

“We are going to have to wait for another team to come get us.” I respond. “Guess we’ll be stuck here for a while.”