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Falling

The videographer slid open the transparent door. The air blew in, fresh and cold. The pressure in my ears continued to build up and the twin propeller plane continued to rise in a steep ascent. The instructors and the amateurs shared fist bumps and high 5's to build some courage.

"We will go third", she shouted in my ears behind me and I nodded in agreement.

First went the videographer. Then the first pair went up to the door and they steadied themselves. The instructor asked the girl, locked to the contraption on his chest using a series of safety locks, to put her feet at the narrow edge of the plane while he placed both his arms on the two ends of the doors to hold them inside. Then after about 4 seconds he let go and they were gone, out of sight. The second pair did the same and my instructor pushed me up to go to the door.

I moved up and placed my feet unsteadily on that thin stair at the edge of the plane. The wind was stronger. Before I had any time to think, I was falling, like a stone, into the vast expanse below me characterized by irregularly shaped swathes of green and brown.

Just falling.

There are six things one feels when one is in free fall, face down.

The coldness of the air, that speeds through the fingers and bare arms.
The force of the wind as the air desperately tries to escape the path of the mass bearing upon it.
The breathlessness as one grasps what little air that stayed still for one to breathe in.
The gale like scream, that cancels every other thought in one's head.
The infinite view that is unchanging.
The thrill, that is simply indescribable.

Then an audible pull. My body was tugged upwards and everything stopped. Calm and order was restored immediately, as I found myself now slowly floating and descending dreamily onto Earth, with the magnificent view and the beauty of flight my only consolation to a time when I was well and truly, alive.
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