Write a story that involves a choice by a character to follow the rules (or break them). In the spirit of dual stories and only sorta looking at the prompt, your story also involves dueling narrators. In the spirit of doing whatever the hell you want, here are some vaguely inspiring symbols:

The Lone Mountain - This is a destination that can never be reached. The crystal glaciers glimmer; the zenith promises glory, but the journey seems impossible, the trials among the foothills multiply with each step closer.
The Comet - Perhaps an ill omen, perhaps a herald of great change. Something in the cosmic balance has shifted.
The Spire - What good does it do to stand higher than everyone else when you are consumed by loneliness? It takes great strength to survive when so much around you perishes, but all most ever see is the outside of the tower, not its ruined interior. Those trapped in it see father, but also know despair.

As demanded by the whinier participant, these rules must be strictly adhered to in a spiritual sense, which is to say--not literally. But there is a literal spirit in your stories.

2k words max.
Give me your words in two weeks by midnight. That's 8/23/21 at 11:59pm pacific time.