Climbing the ladder is not easy. There are so many steps to get to the top, and if you accidentally take one wrong step, everything will go wrong.
There was a leak in the roof – a leak so bad that it made the ceiling fall. A remodeling contractor came in to take a look at the damage in the ceiling. “You have to fix the leak in the roof first or else the ceiling will just fall again,” he said.
And so we called a roofer. I made sure to have a clipboard with pieces of paper and a pen to take notes. The roofer came in with his partner and looked at the ceiling. Then, they went to grab a ladder from their truck to get to the roof. The ladder looked like a typical ladder. It was a step ladder with two sets of feet and the bottom is wider than the top. The ladder was too short, so the roofer and his partner opened up the ladder to make it taller. They set one set of feet on the ground, while the other set reached the roof. What an interesting ladder.
The roofer and his partner climbed up to the top, and said we could go up too. I looked up. No thanks, I’ll wait on the bottom. I waited and waited. They were talking so much up there! I decided to climb up. I put down my clipboard, folded up the pieces of paper, and put it in my back pocket along with my pen. I climbed up halfway, then stopped. This is so high. I went back down.
I continued waiting at the bottom. Minutes went by, and they were still up there chatting. I decided to try climbing up again. I grabbed the rail with my hands and slowly made my way up…halfway. I ended up on the ground again.
Five minutes passed. How long will they be up there? What is taking so long? Are they taking notes? Are they saying anything important? I couldn’t stay on the ground anymore. I wanted to see what was taking them so long. For the third time, I climbed up the ladder. I got a lot higher this time – to the top – but the struggle was getting off the ladder, not climbing up. Since they had opened up the ladder, both the bottom and the top of the ladder were wide. I went as high as I could, then stretched my leg as far as I could with one hand holding on to the ladder and the other holding on to the roof for my life to only barely be able to step onto the roof. How am I going to get down…? I guess that’s a problem for later.
This was my first time on the roof. It was flat, and had some nice views. The roofer and his partner continued talking and throwing out costs and things that needed to be fixed, and I pulled out my paper and pen to take notes. Good thing they didn’t fall out on my way up!
Finally, it was time to go down. I would’ve chosen to stay up here if I could, just to avoid going down. The contractor went down first. He got down in just a few seconds. Then, it was my turn. I reached as far as my leg could reach to get on a step and gripped the rails tightly with my hands. Step by step, I started making my way down. The entire ladder was shaking and the sound of the nails and bolts hitting each other was so loud – it almost sounded like the ladder was going to break apart at any moment. It was shaking so much that the contractor held the rails on the bottom too.
Why didn’t it shake when he went down? It must be because his legs were not shaking when he went down. Who knew my shaking legs could shake up the whole ladder? Each step took me two steps, and my legs felt like they were going to give up at any second. It felt like an endless ladder.
I eventually made it to the bottom safely and looked up. It really isn’t easy climbing the ladder.