The sun was just beginning to rise, casting a warm golden glow over the trail as you and Neela made your way up Cowles Mountain. The air was crisp and cool, and the sounds of birds chirping blended with the crunch of gravel under your hiking boots. Neela, as always, had her phone out, snapping pictures of the scenery and occasionally turning the camera on you.

“Jake, smile!” she said, aiming the phone at you mid-step.

You rolled your eyes but grinned anyway. “You’re going to end up with like a thousand pictures by the time we get to the top.”

“Exactly,” she said with a smirk. “How else am I supposed to document our epic sibling hike?”

The trail got steeper as you climbed, but the views were worth it. You could see the city stretching out below, the buildings looking tiny compared to the sprawling hills and trees around you. Neela paused to catch her breath, resting her hands on her hips.

“Okay,” she said between breaths, “remind me again why we decided this was a good idea?”

“Because you said you wanted to do something adventurous,” you teased, leaning on a nearby rock.

She laughed. “Yeah, but I didn’t think it would involve this much uphill!”

After a few more minutes of climbing—and a lot of joking about who was going to make it to the top first—you finally reached the summit. The view was breathtaking, with the sun fully up now and the whole world seeming to stretch endlessly before you.

Neela let out a whoop of victory, raising her arms in the air. “We made it!”

You laughed, collapsing onto a rock. “Barely. I think my legs are going to hate me tomorrow.”

She sat down next to you, pulling out a water bottle and handing it over. “Totally worth it, though. Look at this view.”