The Cliff

​It had started out as such as beautiful day but it turned into a nightmare for Doohan family. For months they had planned a vacation to go hiking in the mountains. School had ended and the kids, a boy and girl aged 7 and 8 named Daisey and Gilbert were excited to go on their first vacation in almost a year. The family loaded up the station wagon and headed out to the mountains for a couple of weeks. 

​Once upon arrival in the mountains the kids went for a swim while mommy chopped some firewood and daddy set up the tent. The family then happily ate burgers and roasted marshmallows. After dinner daddy played the guitar and the whole family sang along as well their pet bloodhound howled a tune. 

After dinner the family stayed up late telling ghost stories and looking up at the stars. Then finally at about 3am they all crawled into the tent and went to sleep. 

The next day they all got up early after only a couple hours of sleep and none of them were the slightest bit tired. They family got ready, ate breakfast, put on their hiking boots and out they went for the day to hike up to the high peak of a jagged rock formation. 

The day was hot and the sun beat down on the family. The father had made a mistake. He did not think it was going to be this hot and he didn't bring along that much water. This was something that he had noticed about four hours into the hike when his son, Gilbert began to get a headache and show symptoms of a heat stroke. 

"We should head back honey. Gilbert is starting to get sick and says he is seeing white spots in his vision. And we don't have anymore water." Mrs. Doohan stated.

The father was very concerned and snapped at her, "God dammit. I know the situation. Do you think I am stupid or something?"

That's when Daisey started to cry. She was afraid of her father as he had a horrible temper. The father then screamed at her to shut up. The little girl ran into her mother's arms and hid her face from her father. 

"We will head back to the tents." Mr. Doohan said. 

He then looked at the sky. The sun scorched the earth and it wasn't even noon yet. It was still going to get hotter. He carried Gilbert but soon he got too heavy and he had to put him down and let him walk on his own. Gilbert was started to get dizzy and stumbled as he walked and complained about his vision, saying he could barely see. They were soon walking uphill on a treacherous slope with no trees around. They were close to the cliff making the walk increasingly dangerous. 

Mr. and Mrs. Doohan became exhausted and sat down to rest with their daughter. Mr. Doohan hollered out to Gilbert not to go further. But he did not hear and he stumbled towards the edge of the cliff and screamed as he went over. The mother ran to the edge of the cliff and looked over. She then stepped off as well and stood up straight and could be seen from the knees up. The fall was only 2 feet. The father and daughter ran to the edge where the mother was holding her son Gilbert.

He was dead from the 2 foot fall.