Dr. Parker drove the two of us to the campsite late in the afternoon on that following Monday. Once we arrived, my eyes couldn't believe how breathtaking this place was. It was the perfect place to be during the spring. It was as if this place wasn't aware that we just went through winter. Once we found our spot, we set up camp. Each of us had our own tents. And not having ever been camping before, Sara helped me with my tent while making fun of the fact that I couldn't make a tent. Once our tents were set up, we cooked our hot dogs and had s' mores. With the roaring campfire, I couldn't believe how completely fine Sara seemed to be. No panic attacks and no heart problems. Was she faking things for her dad? Why was Dr. Parker letting her sit next to a fire?
"Hope you saved room for some cake daddy," proclaimed Sara pulling a cake that laid in a wrapped pan out of her tent. "Today's your birthday!"
Dr. Parker found himself laughing. "You really didn't need to do this. We celebrated our birthday on Saturday."
"Yes, but we both know that the birthday party was for me." She began cutting the cake and served as we sang happy birthday to him.
Eating our cake, it was amazing how happy everyone looked. Sara and her dad were joking with each other and sharing laughs. Against the roaring fire that evening, the wind blew against her hair, and her skin radiated in the night. At the moment, I was glad that she ignored her uncomfortableness of the fire. She was confident and quite amazingly beautiful.
"Tomorrow will be a big day," announced Sara's dad. "Tomorrow we're going on a small hike to the lake. There's a waterfall there." His eyes met mine. "It's the perfect opportunity to face fear in the eye."
Jump a waterfall? Never in my life had I jumped a waterfall. It was clear that he really wanted to help. Like father, like daughter. About an hour later, Dr. Parker let the fire out and was ready to call it a night and found himself soundly asleep in his tent. Unable to sleep, I decided to sit at the table and look at the stars.
"Beautiful, aren't they?" asked Sara who found herself sitting next to me. She couldn't sleep either and laid her head against me. "You glad you came?"
"Yeah, I am." With another moment, we laid ourselves on the table and let our fingers connect. "It's pretty cool that your dad seems to like me a lot. I'll be honest, I was nervous that he going to hate me."
"Awe really?" She laughed a little. "I guess he can seem a little scary, but once you get to know him, he's pretty cool. But maybe that's me being biased since he's my dad." We both laughed. "One thing I love about my dad is that he goes out of his way to help others in need. I'm glad he wants to help you as he helped me."
A silence broke between us with our attention going towards a shooting star. At that moment, I secretly wished to never lose Sara.
"You know, I was surprised how chill you were tonight with the fire. The last time we sat next to a fire, your heart almost died."
She let a chuckle. "I don't know, I guess I just felt a weird sense of peace knowing that both you and my dad were there at my side. And I also took a couple of extra pills today. Maybe that played a part."
We laid on that table for about another hour until we went to our tents and called it a night.
...
That following morning, we took a small hike to the lake. We were literally the only ones there. Standing on top of the waterfall, Dr. Parker stood right there with me. With Sara already jumping the waterfall twice, it was finally my turn. Ignoring Dr. Parker's instructions to not look down, I looked down. Wow, it was certainly a long way down. Was I really going to be jumping this? My head wanted to explode. Was it too late to walk down? I could feel the sun already burning against my skin. Maybe jumping wouldn't be bad.
"You can do this Jimmy," encouraged the good doctor. "Close your eyes and jump. And make sure to bend your knees when you jump."
If the sun was baking against my skin, the sun must've been baking against his. Why didn't he jump in first? As I was about to jump, my mind began playing tricks on me. Emily stood right next to me.
"It looks like it's a big jump. I hope you jump off and die."
"Are you seeing Emily right now?" Sara's dad asked leading me to lightly nod. He found himself standing behind me. "Ignore it son. Your brain is being influenced by your conscience. She's not standing beside you and she does not wish for your death."
I wanted to believe every word he said, but I couldn't. Emily was still standing next to me. She still wanted me to jump and have everything go horribly wrong. Why couldn't I just jump?
"As I said before," began Dr. Parker again. "You need to close your eyes. Once you do that, it will be much more difficult to see Emily. Don't let your brain stop you from jumping this waterfall. Once you jump, I'll jump and make sure you're safe."
Maybe he was right and I decided to close my eyes. Immediately, Emily was nowhere to be seen. There were a couple of times I heard her voice. This was it. I had to jump. My heart began racing faster and faster. My legs began shaking. If I didn't jump soon, my shaky legs would let me fall. I had to do this. After about a minute, I could hear from afar encouragement from Sara. She was yelling out of her lungs. Before I knew it, there was enough courage to jump and my body quickly zoomed into the water. My body was safe and sound.
Wow! Jimmy is getting brave! Hope you enjoyed the chapter. Don't forget to comment, vote, and share!
Was having a campfire a good idea for the sake of Sara?
How do you feel about Jimmy being able to jump the waterfall?