Freefallin

         This is probably the last chance I'll have to go through with this, I thought to myself as we turned left onto the dirt driveway of The Ranch. My stomach was fluttering with excitement as I hopped out of Greg's jeep. A brisk breeze caught some dried up leaves and sent them rolling towards me on the ground. They fumbled over one another as their soft static sound amplified to the illusion of a gentle rainfall. The nice weather wouldn't hold off much longer.
         Following closely behind Greg and Eric, I listened as they continued the same conversation they'd had the entire way here.
         "This is gonna be great! I can't wait to get up there!" Greg announced for the millionth time.
         "Dude, I've never even been in a plane before!" Eric replied, "This is gonna be the best story to tell to my kids one day."
         Glancing back at me, Greg playfully tickled my stomach. "Yay skydiving," he whispered as he gave me that huge grin that always brings out his one dimple.
         I couldn't believe I was about to jump out of a plane. Originally I was just tagging along with my boyfriend and his friend so I could take pictures of this once-in-a-lifetime-event. Only a few hours before I was fumbling with my camera in the back seat of Greg's car trying to figure out the best aperture and shutter speed settings for the pictures I wanted to shoot.
         "Hey guys," I started as I noticed a gap of silence that was unusual, "next time you do this I wanna jump with you."
         "Yeaaaaah riiiiiight," Greg answered back, "you wouldn't go skydiving with us."
         "Yeah I would!" I replied, defensively, as I stopped examining my camera and poked my head in between the two front seats.
         "Why don't you just jump with us today?" Eric asked.
         "I dunno, I really don't wanna spend the mon-"
         Greg interrupted, "Even if I wrote you a check right now I bet you still wouldn't go!"
         "Yeah?" I countered, with a thoughful sound in my voice. "Why don't you just stop at an ATM machine... I'm going today."
         I was brought back to the present time as a plane roared past us on the short runway to our left. The plane lifted from the pavement and seemed to just clear the trees at the end of the runway. A few minutes later, the monster that was once about 150 meters from where I stood was now the size of a flea in the vast, blue sky. I stared up for a long time, squinting my eyes so that, maybe, I could catch a glimpse of the microscopic dots leaping out of the craft. Only then did I notice the colorful clouds materializing, one by one, as each diver pulled their 'chute. Until the parachutes neared the ground, though, anybody attached to them was still invisible to my eyes. The sky was scattered with, what seemed like, colorful dancers. Some rocked back and forth, while others spiraled to the ground, a few spun in complete circles as the diver's feet reached towards the sky, slowly, and then rushed downward once again.
         After watching in awe, the graceful flights of the skydivers, the three of us headed over to the office where we were required to fill out the necessary paperwork. Basically, we had to sign about ten pages of contracts agreeing that we would not hold The Ranch responsible for any accidents or deaths that may occur as a result of leaping out of an airplane at over two miles above the Earth and freefalling at 120 MPH. I didn't read most of what I was consenting to; I didn't want to think about what could happen to any one of us.
         After being strapped tightly in the harness that would attach us each to a professional skydiver, we patiently waited for our names to be called. I looked on as the people ahead of us, half eager and half reluctantly, made their way to the flight of their lives. I examined their faces as they all landed and listened in on their stories as they spoke excitedly to their friends of the rush they had just experienced. It can't be all that bad, can it? I pondered to myself.
         "Greg, Eric, and Rebekah?" A man called out. My heart stopped beating for a second, but I refused to let my fear take control. I was going to do this. I breathed deeply, calming myself, as the man introduced us to our assigned skydivers. The ones that were about to take our lives into their hands. Everything was happening so quickly, and before I knew it we were heading towards the direction of the plane.
         The plane rolled up next to us and it was time to hop aboard. My palms were sweating and my heart was pounding so hard I thought it would shoot from my chest as I climbed the stairs to the door and ducked inside. The inside of the plane was crowded with about twenty skydivers piled in like sardines in a can, each of us sitting in between the legs of the person behind us.
         The roaring monster circled once and then began to pick up speed going straight ahead. About halfway down the runway the pavement started to grow distant until it completely disappeared beneath us. By the time I looked up I noticed an infinite blue horizon stretching out before me; we were well above the trees and still rising.
         "FLY, BABY, FLY!!!" I was distracted as most of my fellow passengers chanted in anticipation.
         It was probably only a ten minute ride but it felt like an eternity. The door was wide open and I could see, clearly, just how high we really were. I was in a calm state by then. Although, my heart was still thumping uncontrollably, I had accepted what I was about to do and there was no way I was backing down at that point. Greg and I rose to our knees and the men behind us fastened our harnesses to theirs. Greg was to be the first one out and before he made his way to the door he gave me a quick kiss that made me pray it wouldn't be our last. I watched on as my boyfriend crawled to the exit. Here, time flew at the speed of light: On their feet now they were only inches away from the open air, and with a synchronized squat, up, squat, they tumbled into the sky and disappeared almost the second their feet left the floor.
         Then it was my turn. My dive buddy and I made our way to the edge and a camerawoman held on to the outside of the plane watching us. "Down, up, down, ARCH!" The man behind me shouted over the engine's roar as we moved. We began to fall forward and I gasped a little, but not out of fright; out of awe. After we rolled through the air a few times we came to fall stomach to Earth. We were descending so fast that it sounded like a static TV turned all the way up. The skin on my face and arms was being pushed back towards the sky as gravity got the best of me.
         I stretched my arms way out and realized how peaceful the world appeared at that very moment. The ground was so far away that it didn't even seem like I was falling. I felt like I was soaring and nothing would bring me down. I smiled at the camera, waved, and blew a kiss right before we pulled the parachute.
         I jerked, slightly, upward and everything became really quiet except for the sound of the wind catching fabric. We spun around a few times and I noticed the ground did seem like it was getting closer at this point. We floated gracefully to the ground and I watched, in wonder of what had just happened, as the parachute softly landed in front of us. Greg was waiting for me safely on his two feet again and we both looked on as Eric landed. All of us were, not only alive but also eager to come back and fly again.
         As Greg peeled out of the parking lot, blowing dust everywhere, we shouted in triumph. "Whoooo-hooo!!!" Hey if you wanna fly you gotta learn to let go.