Long Way Up

Theo is terrified of heights, but the ropes-course club is daring him to climb. One careful choice at a time, can he face the fear at the top of the wall?

Theo Park had a secret, and it lived in his stomach. Every time he looked up at something tall, the secret rolled over and squeezed.

A flagpole. A tall slide. The big oak tree his cousins climbed without thinking. Theo stayed on the ground, every time, telling himself he just did not feel like it.

So when his teacher pinned a bright orange flyer to the board that said ROPES COURSE AND CLIMBING CLUB, ALL WELCOME, Theo's stomach did a slow, unhappy flip.

'You should sign up,' his best friend Mina whispered, poking him with her pencil. 'It is super fun.' Theo looked at the picture of kids dangling high in the air and thought, no way on Earth. But then the bell rang, and he found himself standing in front of the flyer anyway.