Adrian grew up high in the Italian alps, first and only daughter to two adventure loving mountaineers. She did not fancy climbing mountains as much. Neither did the mountains charm her as they charmed her parents, nor the idea of adventure itself. She grew up a shy kid, happier in the company of her books when indoors and mountain dogs when out. When probed by her parents or their mountaineering friends to join them, she would often say the books and the dogs gave her her own flavour of thrill though wrapped in tranquility. She did silently carry in her heart some latent desire for paragliding though. She fancied going paragliding with her dog on her 18th birthday. That would be her way of signalling to the world she is an adult and she can make her own choices.

Tomorrow she turns 18. It is July, the weather is agreeable, and she has a slot booked with her favourite paragliding company in town. Something in her is pulling her away from it. She has been sitting in her library all afternoon with Lito, her 3 year old shepherd dog. She picks up the wooden frame on her desk- her parents dressed in their climbing gear, grinning wide, ready to start their hike. The last climb they would ever go on. She lost them last year to an unexpected landslide on a fine sunny day. Holding the frame next to her chest, she gets up and walks over to their bedroom, fiddles with some of their gear, and decides, silently, to skip the paragliding plan and go on a hike instead with Lito the next day. She puts on her mother’s climbing shoes, they feel one size shorter than hers. She smiles but carries them with her back to her bedroom. Lito follows her.