While on spring break vacation, visiting my sister Mallorie in Hawaii, the perfect opportunity came up to cross number four off my bucket list and go skydiving!! This single event was what I had been looking forward to the entire week we were in the tropical paradise and I almost had to go alone seeing as my entire family was either afraid of heights or had already gone once and had no desire to attempt such a daredevil maneuver once again. Finally my oldest sister Meagan, who is deathly afraid of heights and even freaked out zip-lining through the rain forest while securely fastened to a thick, two inch wire, gathered enough courage to go with me. So the plan was set and early the next morning we were off on the seeming eternal car ride to the airstrip. For me the ride seemed long in anticipation, for Meg in fright.
As soon as we arrived, they had us sign our lives away and it all became so real. We could get seriously injured doing this, or even DIE. On the outside I was cool as a cucumber, but on the inside I felt as if a million butterflies had just invaded my vessel and were ferociously flapping away. With the harness on and after meeting with my flight instructor for a brief tutorial on how it would all go down, literally, we started making our way to the plane. I was ready. I was the first flyer, out of four, headed for the small plane. I immediately noticed that I would be sitting in the back, able to watch all of the three other jumpers prepare, jump, and peacefully float to the ground giving me some peace of mind. But with such luck as I seem to have, my flight instructor decided that we "needed" to stop, let everyone else load, and take a picture in front of the plane. My heart stopped. I knew what this meant as soon as the words left his mouth. i obediently let the others pass as my sister and i plastered frightened, fake smiles on our faces and with the pictures taken and my instructor satisfied, we boarded the plane that we most certainly would not be landing in.
And so, with the flimsy, plastic plane door slightly closed we took flight. I was sitting, attached to nothing, a mere two feet from certain death. What if a freak gust of wind just happens to come our way? Luckily no such occurrence did in fact come our way and even before I could come up with another death scenario, the door was opened and it was time to fly! This is Ghost Rider requesting a flyby. For some reason all I could think about were Top Gun quotes. My instructor yelled something in my ear. Negative Ghost Rider. And with that we were out. In the open sky. Surrounded by nothing but a few scarce clouds.
There's something about falling through the sky. It's like all of your worries leave your body with the air whooshing past you at what seems like 100 miles per hour. I couldn't help the grin growing on my face. Even the thought some disgusting bug getting stuck in my teeth because of the constant presence of my toothy expression couldn't stop me from smiling.
The chute was pulled and as we glided, I was overcome with the beauty that surrounded me. The beach was extraordinary and I even got to see some whales jumping out of the water. My flight instructor and I glided the longest and were the last ones to land. My mom, dad, and sister Meg were all waiting at the bottom when my feet stood upon land after what seemed like the most excruciating ordeal my 16 year old body had been through. Hugs were exchanged and many "I'M ALLLLLIVE!!" pictures taken, and then life went on. But I will never forget the day that I went soaring through the sky with a stranger strapped to my back!
