Narrative

     We stood up as the final pair got to the edge. The engine was off, but you could only hear the loud roars of the sky as we moved. I could see the jumper before me was nervous but excited. He was ready to do it, with a grin of fear on his face, he let himself go. In less than a blink of an eye, they were gone. It was all too quick and all too loud to know what happened to him. And seconds later, of course, I was right there with him. We were all instructed to crouch way down and place our feet to the rim. And as I moved closer and viewed below, I trembled. The scenery was outstanding, but every part of my brain was screaming of the dangers. Regardless, I knew I wanted to do it, so I put my head straight forward and let the moment free. The sky was partly cloudy that day, but at our altitude, I could only see a crisp blue. Down on the surface, it was warm and still. However, nearly two miles above ground, it was cool and gusty. I could only hear a faint whisper from my instructor behind me as he yelled “Ready, Set, Go”. And with the final scream, he jumped and pushed us both off the safety of a small propeller airplane.

     We tumbled and rumbled as we naturally descended. It was hard to focus on anything as we were going so fast, I could only try to comprehend the action. The cool wind blew hard into my skin causing my face to disorient and my mind to boggle. I had dreamed of this moment for a long time and I knew this was one of the biggest and popular events many wish to accomplish in a life time. Yet, I did not scream, I simply ignored the fear and let the excitement out. On my first jump, I had asked to have another skydiver to jump out with us and photograph my movements. Although the photographer jumped with us, I was unable to focus and obtain any sight of him until about 20 seconds in when we finally adjusted ourselves. At that point, my instructor was able to straighten ourselves and continue a flat fall. It was quiet the experiment to see the photographer ascend and descend at our level. From the moment I saw him, I gave the camera big thumbs up and gave a big grin. I was not sure how to express myself with all my bursting senses. 

      But before I knew it, my instructor and I had reached the parachute deployment zone. To signify a change of pace, he tapped my shoulders, in which I then grabbed a hold of my harness and prepared for the jerk. However, it was the exact opposite. Instead of an expected tight tug from my back, it was a soft pull upward and slow. It was like slightly pumping the breaks on a slow moving car. And the moment the parachute was successfully out, the experience became extremely quiet and peaceful. It no longer felt like I was falling, instead, it felt as if I was pleasantly floating. From the free-fall to the parachute, it took about 45 seconds and we had gone from a tumble flying feel to a graceful floating experience. We skydived in between two major cities in Ohio which was mainly populated by farm territory, so the scenery was outstanding. From about five thousand feet I could only see major interstate roads and big farmland squares but everything came together so eloquently. Upon the parachute, everything was quiet, I could hear my instructor clearly in which we conversed and toured.      We were the last to leave the flight, so we pleasantly watched the other jumpers land before us. It was very astonishing to witness the parachutes from above and see them twist and turn till their arrival. My instructor saw the other jumpers turning and suggested we should have some fun and check that our parachute was fully intact. Thus, the instructor told me to pull my right hand, which was holding a string of the parachute, down lightly. And as we turned, the experience became like a roller coaster. We rapidly turned falling down as it seemed we had lost control. However, our parachute was properly constructed, so we still had control over our descent. But those turns were exciting and amusing as ever. From the entire event, that was probably the most notable fear I had, yet I held much joy for the scare.

     And as I touched the ground I came to realization that I had just conquered the sky. Before I was petrified, then I let go and had a blast, now I am confident I can do so much more. So the enjoyment was too much for the one tandem skydive jump, thus I went up again for a second jump. And as I am down on the ground writing about my experience, I can only await the future jumps with this whole new confidence and outlook of the world, as a skydiver and as a man.