Jump Off

“Let Go!”

So she did, finally, even as she stopped at mid-run near the rock’s edge, stunned by the creeping fear. The black green foilage, the light from the water hot against her imagination. The sharp turns of this cliff impinged on her, lifeless, impaled on a boulder hidden by the water. She weighs the balance of death against heroism, watching the face of her impatient guide, and realize that the choice is now or regret.

One second of hesitation, and then she jumps to a flash of weightlessness, bereft of air, memories, reality. For once she is beyond body, beyond matter. She is a mist, for a second at least, until the first of skin whams into the water. The river welcomes her and into its bosom she grows back into herself. It takes only seconds, thirteen feet into the water. When she comes up for air, she laughs, how stupid it is to fear such an easy conquest.