My Last Year

Falling from an Airplane into Joy

Hope you like it!!! :D

I took a deep breath. I was shaking viciously, and I’m pretty sure I had to pee. Jayleen—the woman jumping with me—yelled across the airplane to me.

“We’ve got about 30 seconds!”

I climbed over to her and turned around so that she could strap me to a harness on the front of her body. A man with a bald head pulled open the door and we waddled on over. Jayleen turned her back to the opening and I stared at the man who was counting down from ten on his fingers. When he got to two, Jayleen squeezed my arm and then pushed off backwards, into the sky. Gravity seemed to have no existence as we floated for a mere moment, hanging thousands of feet above the earth, my stomach felt weightless in my body before it hit my back and did several flips as gravity took shape.

Jayleen screamed in excitement as we soared through the air, and I opened my mouth to do the same. Only, as my lips parted, the air caught in my cheeks and it came out as a morphed laugh. I shrieked with delight.

Wind whipped my cheeks and arms as our bodies plummeted down to the earth, clouds wisped by us on our decent.

Down below, I could see dirt, foliage and a whole lot of chaos. I wondered what had really happened. I mean, I understand the Hurricane and whatnot, but what had it been like to be there?

“Are you ready, girl?!” Jayleen yelled into my ears.

“Yeah, baby!!” I screamed excitedly.

Jayleen reached down and pulled the cord that released the parachute. A brief moment lapsed before air caught in the huge blue tarp and I almost bit my tongue from the force that it yanked back with.

I yelled out with ecstasy as it allowed us to float down to the ground.

“What do you think?” Jayleen asked as we drifted. Her voice was scratchy from screaming so much.

I took a moment to catch my breath. “Oh my gosh!” I said. “That was amazing!!”

The thrill that I had just experienced was beyond my imagination. I couldn’t believe I had just jumped out an airplane!!!

I tried to capture all the beauty of the landscape and hills that I could see right now, but I knew that it would just be a quick shadow of a memory in a few days. But then, Jayleen held something in front of me and a bright light blinded me momentarily.

I blinked and saw the camera that she had been holding. It was my mothers! I looked back at the woman behind me. Her hair was tied back in a pony tail, but little wisps flew about her smiling face.

“Your Mom had me video tape the entire thing!”

Something closed in my throat, and I swallowed it. The tears burning my eyes, but not penetrating the surface. I grinned back at her and smiled for the next photo she took of the both of us.

The jump had lasted too short of a time for me, and I looked up to the sky as Jayleen unbuckled us from the harnesses.

“You miss the sky already, huh?” She asked, knowingly.

I looked at her. She had been on hundreds of jumps and knew the feeling of flying—being free. I smiled and nodded.

“It was just breath taking!” I exclaimed.

Jayleen looked at me for a moment before speaking. “I read your blog, Molly. And…I gotta say,” She paused, tears peaking her eyes. Why is it everywhere I go, people begin to cry? “my father died of cancer. He fought a very different battle than what you’re fighting. He gave up.” She shook her head, biting her lip.