Abuse

``Hurry up!'' Tania said as she scrambled up the rocky slope. Behind her, Albert panted heavily as he tried his best to match her speed while carrying all their supplies in the big haversack on this back. Albert wasn't as unfit as it sounded, but when one was loaded down with as much stuff as he had, the work was really cut out for one.

But Tania either didn't know or didn't care. A lithe five-foot tall woman, she happily charged up slopes, scrambled up hills and sprinted down gullies willy-nilly, each time berating Albert for being slow. This time, however, he had just about enough of her shenanigans.

Furious, Albert stopped and removed the haversack, groaning under its weight, before dumping it straight down at the small goats' path midway of the rocky slope. The haversack landed with a dull thud just loud enough for Tania to glance back and look at Albert. He returned teh look with a cold stare full of daggers. Then, Tania made her first mistake.

``Come on! Quit stalling! We need to get to the base camp!''

``Stalling?'' Albert roared back, unable to contain the displeasure in his voice. ``Look at you, you stupid bitch! You made me carry all of our supplies while you traipse about like you were a princess walking through your royal garden and you pick the most fucked up route to get to the top and hurry me and now when I can't take it anymore and need a rest you tell me to quit stalling?''

``But honey, you know I'm not good at carrying these loads...''

``Shut the fuck up! You're a five-foot tall woman. You can at least carry your junk. Stupid things like your own sleeping bag, some of the food and water supplies, anything really. That would have made this easier. But nooooo... you had to dump EVERYTHING on to me like I'm your pack mule or something.''

``But you're very strong...''

``ALRIGHT! That's enough!'' Albert replied with an air of finality. He picked up the haversack and slung it back on his back.

``Yay! I know you'd be alright! Come, let's go!'' Tania replied cheerily.

``No.'' Albert said, the coldness of his voice slicing deep into Tania's ears.

``I'm heading back. If you want to go on, carry your own shit. I'm not going to give a damn about you anymore. I tried to please you, to protect you, but you kept being your damn wilful self, never actually giving a rat's ass concern for me. You could have just shown one little ounce of care but you never did.

``Go away. I don't care about you any more.''