“Please don’t make me do it!” I pleaded my father.
“Jim he’s not going to take you back down! You have to jump!” The exasperation in my father’s voice was evident. He was frustrated. My mother and younger brother had already jumped, so why wouldn’t I?
I turned to look out the open plane door. The wind blew my hair into my eyes and I quickly looked away. I squeezed my eyes shut. I was terrified of heights.
“Dad please! Don’t you understand how afraid of heights I am?!”
“This whole trip was your idea!”
“I was kidding!”
From up in the cockpit I heard the pilot say, “Hurry up and JUMP already!”
“Sorry,” my father apologized. He grabbed my hand and I looked him in the eyes. He had such a kind face that I began to calm down a little bit. My frantic breathing slowed, and my heartbeat began to beat a little calmer. I could , however, still feel it beating against my ribcage, as if trying to jump out. Even my heart wanted me out of the plane.
“Look Jim I’ll be right behind you,” said my Dad. But something was off. Something in the way he said it. I couldn’t quite place it though. With a little persuasion from my father a moved closer to the door. Thousands of feet below us I could see the ground. I could taste bile in my mouth. As I was about to turn around to tell my Dad I had changed my mind again I felt a strong hand on my back. Next thing I knew I was out of the plane and falling rapidly towards the earth. A girlish scream escaped me as I fell. My heart felt like it was in my throat. I could feel the wind against my face. My arms were out as if I were trying to fly.
I continued to scream like a little girl (something all of my friends would tease me about if they ever found out) and almost forgot to pull my chute entirely. I reached and grabbed the cord and my descent slowed considerably. They wind slowed, even though my hair was still whipping into my eyes. On the ground my mother and little brother waited for me.
“Your face is as pale as a sheet,” My mother commented.
“Yeah!” Said my little brother
“Hey Mom,” I said
“Yes?”
“Promise me we will never do that again.”
She smiled.
“No promises,” She said.