The Plunge

The Plunge

She looked down into an empty hole. It was her turn next. No time to look back; no time for hesitation: there was only time to go. This was a dangerous sport. It left no room for indecision.

* * * * * * * *
She remembers practicing for her school ski-team. Four times a week, before school and after school. Once or twice during the weekends. Their coach had decided that their team would be unsurpassed in skill. Training continued year round: running in the spring and fall, rollerblade skills in the summer, and of course, skiing in the winter. All of the skiers had a calendar printed off for them with instructions for each day. Sometimes there were push ups to do, other times sit-ups, sometimes a combination of those and more. No matter what, everyone had to complete their training: they did it together.

Her coach came up with the most bizarre training exercises. Sometimes she thought that his goal was to make fools of them all. One of her most unwelcome memories was that of doing some sort of strange duck-walk-hop around the entire football field - while the entire football team was practicing. But the training was a good thing - the entire team knew that. There was nothing worse than showing up to a race and finishing last, or worse even, not finishing at all. She knew people like that. She also knew that she never wanted to be one of them. So she trained, all the while secretly thanking her coach for having the good sense to make the team work so hard.

Despite the painfulness - both mental and physical - of training, skiing had many moments of fun. One year, their race took place out in the middle of nowhere. The only means of cover was a snow covered parking lot. The other schools joined together and built igloos to keep warm inside. Her team wasn't so energetic. They spent the rest of the day packed into their coach's tiny van: all ten of them. Together they managed to forget about the cold, instead, spending the time telling jokes and laughing.

That was back when the team was small. Back when weekend practices consisted of walking through several backyards to her coach's house to hitch a ride up to the slopes. Back when the entire team could qualify for OFSAA with no problems at all. The team is bigger now. Her little sister skis for it. In fact, her other little sister will start to ski for it this year - she attributes this increase to the fame she and her team-mates created. But even with her small ski-team, with ten of them, she was never alone. There was always someone to ski with.

* * * * * * * *
She was good back then. She never hesitated. That was one of the first things her coach had taught her. When you hesitate, you lose not only time, but also the race. They would practice going down hills again and again. It was a scary thing: rushing down a steep hill on a skinny pair of skis with no means of stopping other than falling down. She fell down many times. It hurt, but someone was always at the bottom to help her up.

She used to be fearless. She knew that she had to get to the bottom of the hill. It didn't matter the method, she would eventually have to come down. There was no other choice.

And here she was again, facing yet another hill. It was a different type - there was no one to pick her up this time - but the challenge remained the same. Years of training had prepared her for this moment. No time for hesitation. No time to look back. Just go.

She signed the papers, and walked out of the room.