He had read the phrase accidentally and yet it lay buried into his skull, constantly drilling itself deeper until leaving him a shaking mass. Cold water could not flood it out.

*

He breathed and felt a stiff breeze blow through him and remembered what he should feel. He looked outwards across the cliff tops and then towards the tightrope which hung taut across the ravine. Hundreds of feet below, freezing waves crashed against broken rock.

‘Many times. Many times I have done this. Many times. This is what I do. This is what I am.’

He breathed, and felt the stiff breeze again. His eyes narrowed. Mind blank yet focused he stepped outwards onto the rope and pushed himself onwards with full balance. Each action a reaction to his reflex. The rope swung against his weight and he felt natural. The rope was at its maximum slack when he reached halfway and another stiff breeze knocked him back and forth. Yet he kept his balance.
Until he blinked.
‘Remember your mortality.’
His eyes widened.