Carpe Diem (10 page)

After we return our paperwork and she takes a copy of our driver’s license, we are directed to an upstairs office where we need to watch a short video.

Most of the information was the same as the waivers. “This is an extreme sport that can cause death.” “If you die, it is not our fault and you cannot sue us.” The part I found comical was the disclaimer about getting into our harnesses. “While your instructor is getting you harnessed up, there might be touching that under other circumstances could be considered inappropriate. Please know our instructors are professional and that any touching he or she does on your person is for your safety.” Abby and I had to laugh like two twelve year old girls when we heard that.

Abby had a few moments of second thought when she got to the part about, “Should your instructor experience an issue such as a heart attack or stroke that causes them to lose consciousness the chute will automatically deploy at twenty-five hundred feet. At that time, you should reach for the straps that will fall down and do your best to steer back to the landing zone where our teams on the ground will be ready to assist you.” I talked her off the ledge, and we all verbally confirmed we understood the information in the video and were instructed to
hang out
until we were called to the deck.

“Piper, Abby, and Flynn, you’re on deck so let’s get you suited up,” the woman behind the window yells then directs us to stand in the large yellow squares on the floor where an instructor will meet us to put our harness on.

I start to blush when the hot Aussie catches my eye and is walking toward me. Abby gives me a nudge and a smile then mouths the words
Oh my gawd he is hot
. I nod in agreement while Flynn chuckles at our schoolgirl behavior.

“Hello again, you must be Piper. I’m Brandon. I will be your instructor today.”

“Hello, yes I am,” I say, extending my hand to shake his hand.

“Nah, that’s way too formal for us, give me a high-five,” he says, raising his hand in the air.

His accent is intoxicating, his excitement is contagious. You can tell that jumping out of planes is something he loves to do to the extreme and that he can’t wait to get back up in the air.

I give him his high-five along with a nervous laugh. Two more instructors have joined us. Another Aussie named Gus and a good ole American boy named Todd. All good looking and fit guys, but Brandon is by far the hottest of them.

I’m too busy watching everyone around me to realize that Brandon is trying to talk to me.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I started daydreaming I guess.”

“Ah, no worries. Let’s get this harness on you,” he replies with a smile.

“Gawd that smile is amazing.” I didn’t realize I was talking out loud until Abby and Flynn both dropped their jaws to the floor and Brandon blushed a little.

Pardon me while I go crawl into a hole and die now.

After getting our harness on and set, we all take a group picture and then we are being instructed to go wait in the “yard.” They also told us to watch the sky for the divers that are getting ready to jump.

A moment later, we are watching the plane fly overhead and one by one, we see three black little dots falling from the plane. If you were standing anywhere else and saw this you would be in a panic, but here it is normal, here it is sane, here it makes sense and here we pay to jump out of a plane.

Less than a minute later, we see the chutes open and the three are safely floating to the ground. What I didn’t expect was to be able to hear the sound of the chute opening while standing on the ground. The rippling sound of the fabric being let loose from the pack and the air grabbing a hold was mesmerizing. About Five minutes later the jumpers are on the ground safe and a minute after that the plane is landing. I found it hysterical that the jumpers made it back before the plane did. I will blame my outburst of laughter on my nerves.

“All right, Next team lets go,” the pilot calls.

“Okay, Piper, here we go. Can you look into this camera for me?”

I look into a small camera he has mounted to his hand, he presses a button and asks me a few basic questions.

“Here we are on the glorious day. Piper, can you tell me how you are feeling?”

“Um, like I’m going crazy.”

“Are you ready for this?”

“I guess we will find out.”

“Okay good. All right, let’s get you on the plane.”

The plane ride up was shorter than I imagined. The instructors are busy making final adjustments to our harnesses and making sure we are attached to them securely. It hadn’t dawned on me that I will be the first jumper since I was the last one to get on the plane, that is until Brandon gives me some final instructions that there is no way I am going to remember once I leave the safety of the plane. Then he waddles us to the door.

Looking out the open door was a bit of a shock, the wind coming in, the ground moving slowly below, the few clouds seem to be right at my feet. I place my feet on the tiny step that is right outside the door of the plane. Once I am stable I cross my arms over my chest and…wait…Oh my fucking hell. Is this truly about to happen… it’s not too late… I can sti… woooooooaaaaah…

“AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH.”

“AAAHHHH.”

“AAAAAAHHHHHH.”

Before I knew it, Brandon was flipping us out of the plane into summersault. He stops the spin and we are flying with our hands out to our sides. He grabs my right arm and pulls it closer to our sides and we spin to the right. A moment later, he does the same thing with my left arm and we spin to the left. I can’t help but smile. I can feel my skin flapping in the wind. It’s strange, it doesn’t feel like we are falling, and from what I heard in the hangar we are falling at about a hundred and forty miles per hour.

Brandon taps me on my shoulder letting me know he is about to deploy the chute. A second later, the chute opens and our fast fall is slowed to what feels like a float. I expected the sound of the chute to be much louder than it was.

Brandon makes some small adjustments to the harness and then reaches his hand in front of me to position the camera.

“So how you doing, how do you feel?”

“Wow, this is amazing. I understand the attraction to wanting to do this again and again.”

“So you like it?”

“Like it? No, I love it. You feel so free up here.”

Brandon turns the camera off and then grabs the ropes to steer us toward our landing zone. The ground is slowly getting closer, and when Brandon spots a cloud off to our right, he moves us closer and swings us into the foggy air. The ground disappears for a few movements. I move my arms out around me as if to try to grab a hold of the puffy cloud, of course, I only feel damp air. He swings us back out of the cloud, revealing the ground below us once more.

Before maneuvering us, he moves us into position to land. He asks how my stomach is doing.

“It’s great, never better,” I respond.

“Then get ready for some fun.”

Before I have a chance to comprehend what is about to happen, he pulls down on the left steer cord. The chute veers us to the left, sending us spinning. Brandon then repeats the same to the right. I can see why he asked how my stomach was. I giggle and scream as he continues to switch from left to right until he pulls down on both, he put on the breaks as he called it.

“Okay, when I say when you need to push your legs out in front of you for landing.”

“I can do that.”

The ground seems as if it is moving faster as we get closer and before I know it, we are sliding in for our ground landing. With our feet or should I say butts safely on the ground, he unhooks the harness to detach me from him and then turns his attention to the falling parachute. It falls on top of us and he quickly moves to uncover us.

The group of jumpers waiting their turn let off a loud cheer as they watch me. Funny how the roles have reversed so quickly. My sky

diving adventure is ending. However, theirs is just beginning. A few moments later, Flynn and then Abby have landed and we are laughing with excitement.

“Holy shit, did we really just fucking do that?” Abby yells.

“I think we did, but it all happened so fast that I’m not actually sure.”

“And that is why Jack wanted you to get a video, he wanted you to be able to look back on this over and over again,” Flynn adds.

“Oh wow I actually forgot about the video,” I say.

We walk back into the hangar where we get our harnesses removed and are directed to a small desk that I had not noticed before to pick up my video.

As I approach the desk, I can’t stop thinking about how I wish Jack had been here. He would have truly loved this. Then I remember the small piece of glass in my purse. As we wait for my video to be completed, I take a walk outside. Abby and Flynn start to follow but keep their distance.

I look around the grounds and see a small tree standing next to the gray building, and begin to walk toward it. Without thinking, I kneel down next to the tree and scrape away some of the dirt to make a small hole. I then retrieve the small piece of glass from my coin purse attached to my wallet and place it in the hole. Covering the hole with the loose dirt, I whisper, “You will always be a part of me, and I a part of you. I leave a piece of us here to mark the adventure we should have been able to take together.”

A
fter our awesome
skydiving adventure, Abby and Flynn drop me off at home. They both offered to come in, but I think it is time for me to have some alone time. I know what is waiting for me when I get in there and I don’t want them hanging around wanting to talk about it.

I cross my entryway and toss my purse onto the coffee table. It’s strange how fast you get used to an empty house. The noises it makes that you never paid any attention to before, the way the floor squeaks when you step on the boards that have come slightly loose. I never used to pay attention to things like that, not like I didn’t know the sounds, but when you are home alone, knowing that no one else will be joining you, the sounds are much different than they used to be.

As I round the corner into the kitchen, I see the pieces of the red coffee mug still lying scattered on the floor. I kneel down and start picking up the larger pieces and place them on the counter. The smaller ones I sweep up with the broom and dispose of them in the garbage.

After putting the broom back, I walk over to the counter where I had laid the rest. Standing over them, I contemplate what I should do with them. Should I throw them away? Should I try to glue them back together, or should I put them in a baggy and put them in a drawer?

“This is silly,” I say to myself. “I have lost my damn mind,” I add.

I slide the pieces into my hand and while shaking my head at my craziness, I walk over to the garbage to toss them in. As I open the lid to the garbage, I’m frozen. I cannot bring myself to do the sane thing and throw them away.

“Why is this so damn hard? It was a freaking cup?”

Before my mind can talk my body out of it, I place the broken pieces back on the counter. Run to the living room, grab my purse, and grab my keys. I am in my car pulling out of my driveway before I know it. I know I should not be doing this, I know I said the last time would be the last time. I’m not sure why there was a first time. It is actually kind of sick and twisted. Why would anyone do this to themselves? It can’t help. It can only make things worse for me. Yet I find myself doing this at least once a week. I need to stop, I have to stop, it is not healthy.