There was another door here that led outside, to a wide stone pathway that appeared to extend out over the edge of the arctic shelf that the church was apparently located on. As they neared the beginning of this strange stone platform that reminded me of a plank jutting from a pirate ship, Danny gasped and he suddenly froze in place. This was it. They were approaching the edge.
“It’s okay,” Alderson said as he knelt to retrieve a pair of safety-harnesses from a metal box on the ground, half buried in snow. “Insurance pretty much insists on it. Here, just synch this part around your waist.”
Danny pulled on the harness and did as he was instructed. The guy checked his work before attaching a long tether to the harness. He clipped a second one to his own harness and then secured both tethers to the base of yet another detailed statue that had been placed near the end of the stone path and positioned so that it faced the platform. This one was a bit larger than the rest and depicted the smiling man standing behind several crying children with what looked like sea anemones lodged in their mouths.
The guy stood and gestured at the stone balcony as he said, “Shall we?”
He started past Danny and walked right up to the end of the platform, which extended out about seven feet past the edge of the Earth. And then he looked down. I heard Alderson sigh and he said, “Goddamn… It gets me every time.”
Danny cautiously stepped out onto the platform as he muttered, “Not the biggest fan of heights.”
When he finally neared the edge, Danny looked down and we both gasped. I bet it was even more impressive live and there’s no way I can truly do the image justice with words but try to imagine standing above the most stunning night sky you have ever seen. Not under. ABOVE. It was fucking weird. And beautiful.
Alderson nodded at Danny and said, “Wanna see something REALLY cool?”
