Shorter Than Me

6 Ecyn

It's unbelievably awkward catching the captain. I'm scared to death I'll drop him so I try to hold him as tightly as I can but it makes me so uncomfortable. He's not exactly light either. In fact, he's rather heavy. I don't enjoy this and he seems to agree with me on that, maintaining his usual rude demeanor and blank face. I don't know why he wants me to do this. It's uncomfortable for both of us, and it makes me self-concious and pretty embarrassed.

Still, he makes me do it over twenty times. I don't understand the repetition. I won't be catching many people in my life. What is he trying to teach me? I don't think it's working.

I can tell practically by the way he acts, though he barely has a difference in his conduct, that we're finally done with it, possibly and hopefully forever.

"Now you're going to do the same thing you've done for the past few days, except you're going to pretend I'm falling instead of just following me."

"Yes, sir," I say for the thousandth time. I don't know why he's having me do this. Is it even helping?

He starts off and I try to imagine him falling. I race after him as fast as I can.

And I get it. Something snaps into place in my head and I understand what he's been trying to get me to do all this time. It's too simple. I don't know how I didn't comprehend it. I let my involuntary mind go before my voluntary mind because it thinks faster. I don't even need to think about which tree to grab onto, I just look around and automatically grab them.

I feel like my eyes have literally been opened. I feel like I could go forever and ever. I feel like there are no limits to what I can do.

For once, I feel free.