He had seen others, including his older brother, jump from an airplane and was determined that he would do it himself some day. Finally, the day came and he loaded into the airplane with the jumpmaster, and they watched the earth sink away through the open doorway.
At the appointed time, he climbed onto the wheel of the airplane, and at the jumpmaster’s command, hurtled himself into space. For a brief moment he did not see, hear, or feel anything, but them a strange twang arose above him as the static line opened the parachute and suddenly, there was something solid to hang onto.
As instructed he looked up to check that the round, blue chute was fully open, which it was, and he marveled at how small it looked. Then, he drifted slowly downward, working the toggles on control lines to direct his path away from obstacles along the grass runway below. Finally, with the ground rushing up to meet him, he turned into the light wind, placed his legs tightly together, looked towards the horizon and prepared for his “parachute landing fall.”
WHAM! He hit hard, but the mild discomfort in the feet, knees, hips, and shoulder indicated that he had landed as instructed, though his helmet was twisted a little sideways. He stood up, gathered up the parachute in his arms and awaited his dad to drive out to pick him up.
He did repeat the adventure one more time on a different day, but other responsibilities demanded his time and money, so he hasn’t jumped from an airplane since.
I probably never will again.
#parachute #skydiving
