Down To The Calming Sea: Forty-seven Stories

They camped the first night on a high plateau above the clouds. Having originally settled at nightfall into their individual bedrolls, they were awakened in the middle of the night by a chilling cold. The clouds, which had been situated well below them during the day, had ascended the dark, steep mountain slopes after sundown and now enveloped them. They got up, thoroughly chilled and wet, first Melanie then Jim, and joined the three Filipinos who were squatted around a blazing fire.

"Cold " Melanie said, crouching and extending her hands toward the flames. "Brr."

"The fire soon make you warm," the first guide said.

Man it's cold " Jim said as he came up to the fire. "What happened?"

"Clouds rise," the tracker said.

"Tomorrow," the second tracker said, "we go into the valley." He pointed toward the steep slope on the side opposite to the way they had come up. "It will be easier. Trees do not grow toward the sun but straight out the side of the mountain and farther apart."

"That's strange," Jim said.

"This a strange mountain," the guide said.

--from the story, ""The White Gibbons""