Seven kilometers before I would have finally made it, I heard a tearing sound. It sounds like someone is ripping a heavy cloth in half. The tearing shoots a dull pain into my left ankle. I fall on the grass. My circulation presses me to the ground, my 14 kilo backpack helps.
I clutch my swelling ankle and look around. A few meters downhill, cows stand in the meadow and chew. The sky is wide and blue over the Allgäu peaks, the sun is shining. I’m alone, no one in sight. I try to imagine that my ankle feels normal. Maybe it’s just the hiking pain that has been plaguing my feet for days.
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