[Overture] [Tenor – The Runner] O cruel dawn, why have you come? Why does the sun rise once again? My legs are stone, my feet are torn, My soul has long surrendered to the rain. For 28 days, I have climbed. For 28 nights, I have dreamed Of endless stairs and savage hills, And woken to the sound of my own screams. [Distant Male Chorus] Two thousand eight hundred… Two thousand eight hundred… Two thousand eight hundred meters await. [Tenor] No! Say it is not so! [Soprano – The Mountain] Come to me, exhausted runner. Come and crawl upon my face. Bring your broken knees before me. Show me suffering. Show me grace. You survived the rain and darkness. You survived the mud and cold. Now bring me 2,800 meters Before this wretched day grows old. [Tenor] Have mercy, Mountain! I have nothing left to give! [Soprano] Then climb with nothing. [Tenor] My quadriceps are ruined! [Soprano] Then crawl. [Tenor] My watch is nearly dead! [Soprano] Then charge it. [Tenor] I curse the name of Bradley! [Full Chorus] BRADLEY! BRADLEY! AUTHOR OF OUR PAIN! HE RAISED THE DAILY NUMBER, AGAIN! AGAIN! AGAIN! [Tenor] Bradley! O demon of elevation! Did you feel no pity in your heart? A hundred meters seemed so harmless, Now my toenails and my sanity depart! [Male Chorus – Marching] Climb! Climb! O children of sorrow! Two thousand eight hundred must fall today! Your knees may be broken, your spirit may follow, But miss one meter and you’re cast away! [Tenor] I climb through forests! I climb through rain! I climb the same foul driveway Again, again, again! I run! I hike! I stumble! I crawl! I turn at the bottom And climb it once more! [Soprano – The Mountain] Higher! [Tenor] I cannot! [Soprano] Higher! [Tenor] I shall die! [Soprano] Then die at the summit With your activity saved! [Full Chorus] SAVE! SAVE! SAVE THE ACTIVITY! LET NOT THE SATELLITES DENY YOUR SUFFERING! [Orchestral Interlude] [Tenor – Weakly] At last… The summit. The cruel number has fallen. The watch shows 2,800. My duty is complete. [Soprano – Softly] Look again. [Tenor] What? [Soprano] Two thousand seven hundred And ninety-nine. [Tenor] NOOOOOOOOO! [Full Chorus] ONE METER! ONE METER! THE GODS DEMAND ONE MORE! [Tenor] Then raise me, ruined body! One final step toward the sky! If one more meter buys my freedom, I shall climb it or I die! [Orchestra swells] [Tenor] Two thousand… Eight hundred! [Full Chorus] HE HAS DONE IT! THE NUMBER HAS FALLEN! DAY 28 IS WON! [Tenor] Then let me sleep. Let morning never find me. Let this be the end of pain. [Distant Female Chorus] Two thousand nine hundred… Two thousand nine hundred… [Tenor] What is that sound? [Soprano – The Mountain] Tomorrow. [Full Company] TOMORROW BRINGS 2,900! THEN 3,000 SHALL RISE! THEN 3,100 METERS BEFORE THE FINAL SUNSET DIES! THREE DAYS REMAIN! THREE DAYS OF SORROW! THREE DAYS TO RUN, HIKE, SURVIVE! CLIMB, O CHILDREN OF SUFFERING! CLIMB IF YOU WISH TO REMAIN ALIVE! [Tenor] O cruel dawn… Do not return tomorrow. [Soprano and Full Chorus] IT SHALL! [Final orchestral chord]
