Parachuting Bethany

• Sowmya Padki, Grade 8
• Short Story
• 2011

We're all here, standing, shivering in the windy air, staring down at the lenght beneath us. It's long, too long for my liking. I glance behind
me. Theres Mum , Rose and Taylor, waving at me and holding up cameras. I gulp. I was excited yesterday to do this, but now i'm reconsidering. I
gesture at the leader of my group , the 4 people who will accompany you on the plane and leap put into nothingness with you. The 4 people look even more nervous than me. A girl, around my age, skinny and blonde and called Rebecca. A boy, tall, shaking called Declan and twins, medium height, chubby- Amanda and Esther. We all smile nervously at eachother and hold a thumbs up sign.
"Alright, good luck everybody!" yells out Declan's mother. The leader, Lina, ushers us onto the small plane and leads us to 6 small and
uncomfortable revolver chairs. We all cautiously slump into them and pray that the weathers too harsh, the plane doesn't work, somebody's nerves
give up - anything, to get us out of this situation. The door slides shut and the engine rumbles, a deep, angry rumble that causes the plane to
vibrate. We are all thrown back into our seats as the plane lurches forward and rises into the air. Suddenly, the engine noise stops and so does the chattering. It's a nice, calm silence, way above land. The twins are squealing every time they look out the window, and the skinny girl, Rebecca is going paler and paler. Lina, noticing our faces, laughs ." Guys, guys. Honestly, put on a smile. This is going to be the best time of your lives, guaranteed. Once your soaring, you'll forget your fears! " she says. The other helpers, who will be soaring in the air to assist us, nod their heads eagerly. We all put on false, cheery smiles and Declan says, rather bravely, " I'm not scared. My brothers do this all the time. They say it's fun." Lina smiles. Now I'm talking to myself, to calm down. "It's ok, Beth, it's only a jump. It'll be fun , like Lina says. Imagine what Rose and all your friends will say! It will be over in a flash." As I finish saying this, the plane seems to stop in midair, but of course , it hasn't. It's moving, ever so slightly. " Ok, we're going for it! " Lina shouts happily. It's ok for her, she's probably done this loads of times - we're only starting. She studies our faces, and then stops at mine. "Bethany, right? You look the most nervous. I'll assist you." I'm relieved. Declan stands up, wobbily, despite his brave words and starts checking his gear. The twins follow suit. Lina helps me tighten straps and make sure everything is tied or buckled . I'm wearing a small, backpack, that apparently holds the parachute. Now Lina's going through
the emergency procedures and the rules . She's making everyone more nervous and she can see it. " Ok , Ok . Enough of that. Now for some fun!" she concludes cheerfully, but even I can see that she's got a doubt- 'Can these petrified people have fun when they look like they're being
murdered?' she's probably thinking. She grabs my hand, adjusts the backpack and before I can protest, pulls me to the door of the plane. "I can't go first, please make Dec-" I say desperately. "Relax, you'll be fine. If you go first, your nerves will go away faster. Ready? Ok. Jump on 3.
1......2..come on...3!!" she yells. I don't even attemp. She pulls me off with her, and we're hurtling down. I don't scream either, because i'm
not the screaming type. More like silent , begging nothing to go wrong, heart hammering like it's going to burst type. I can't see anything, maybe because my eyes are closed, but I can feel her hand in mine and the wind screaming in my ears, causing my hair to flap upwards. I cautiously open my eyes and stifle a scream. We're going down fast..fast...fast. Too fast. I glance at Lina, because we seem to be moving around like floating bubbles in the air and I don't want to let go of her hand. Lina's screaming joyously, and she's bunched up in an akward position, but all the same enjoying herself thoroughly. She glances at me and her eyes gesture downward. I look down. It's a beautiful , incredible view of blue ocean and green trees smudged together. Lina's let go of my hand and i look at her , anxious. Her hand is moving towards the string attached to her backpack. It's the signal. I reach for the string, and tug on it, hard. Nothing happens. I start to panic now, very badly. My hearts going thump thump THUMP! 'I'm going to die , I'm going to die!' my brains wailing frantically. My first instinct is to grab Lina, but before I can reach out, I'm jerked roughly up. It hurt because it was so unexpected, and my breath is winded. The strap has gotten tighter and my chest and I look up to see a colourful, enormous, floating thing above me. It's so pretty. It's my parachute. I'm floating so gracefully now, and Lina's laughing and attempting to do twirls, but I just admire everything from up here. The trees look so calm and they swish softly , side to side. The ocean looks like an endless, blue landscape andthe ground looks so fresh. I'm moving side to side too, and I spread my hands out. " Yipeeeeee!" I yell, and it doesn't sound like it's coming from me at all. Lina laughs some more and yells out with me "Yipeeeeee!" Suddenly , I don't want this to end. The sights, the cool air, the floating feeling in my stomach- it's all too unreal. Lina points up and I stare incredulously. Declan , the twins and their assistance are coming down in bright coloured parachutes like me. Declan's no longer pale, but a rosy pink colour, and he's whooping in delight. Amanda is smiling and staring at the trees, but her twin Esther is squealing happily. "Bethany, Bethany! Oh my god , how beautiful!" she yells. I scream back at her and suddenly all of us are screaming, and now, in a burst of confidence , attempting to flap our legs and hands to look like we're flying. From somewhere down below, Mum and Rose will just be able to see many , many beautiful balloons floating down, and their riders, laughing and flapping. They will be wishing they were in that situation , right now. I look at Lina and I'm understanding why she loves this sport so much, why she encourages so many people to do this. "Lina, this is awesome. So ...unique " I say to her. She nods and smiles "I know". Declan says " Aww man, we're getting to land now." Lina laughs and says you can always do it again soon. We are about 10 m from land now, and I can see the 2 smudges, one small, and one tall of Rose and Mum. They start cheering and waving again. " Beth! Beth! Over here!! Mum, I want to do that too." Rose whines. The parachute does one last graceful dance and then gently deposits us. I land after everybody else, with Lina, and helpers loosen our straps. We step out of the parachute, and it falls to the ground in a wonderful jumble of colour. Craning my head back, I stare up at the sky. It looks plain, ordinary without the bright parachutes. Who knew the sky could bs so amazing, so breath taking when you're up there, floating like a soft, delicate bubble. I rush to Mum and Rose to tell them all about it.