As I mentioned in an earlier post, thrillers and pulse pounders aren’t really my area of expertise. However, it’s good to stretch and try new things 😀 I was actually very pleased with the story this prompt produced. Here’s how it starts…
MY COUSIN EVAN THREW A PARACHUTE at my head. I dodged, caught the pack and shrugged it on, fastening heavy buckles with awkward fingers. Crap! I was barely awake. I didn’t need this shit. I needed answers.
Where the hell were we? What was happening? Why did I need a parachute?
“No time for questions,” Evan yelled. “Just secure the chute and get to the door.”
I obeyed. My heart pounded, accelerated by a surge of adrenaline. A couple of minutes ago I’d been sound asleep, exhausted from the week of twelve-hour workdays I’d put in to prepare for this trip—a man could only take so much abuse before he crashed. Next thing I knew, Evan was shaking me awake, shouting that we had to jump, and lobbing a parachute in my face.
“Have you ever jumped?” Evan shouted over the roar of wind and the sputtering engine of Uncle Ben’s four-seat prop plane.
“Once. In college. With an instructor.”
“Sorry.” He shook his head. “No time for a refresher.” He patted a ring on his own shoulder. “This is the ripcord. Don’t pull it until you’re clear of the plane.”
With that, he turned and jumped.
Fear clutched my throat and choked me. That was it? That was all I got? I glanced wildly around the tiny cabin. A snow-capped mountain loomed beyond the windshield. Uncle Ben had locked the controls and was struggling into his own chute. “What are you waiting for?” he yelled. “Get the hell out of here!”
Words failed. I nodded. Edged closer to the door, clutched the parachute strap near the ripcord, closed my eyes, and stepped into the howling wind of the abyss.
Freezing air numbed exposed skin. Crap! No jacket. No gloves. I tried to pry my eyes open against the rush of wind. Double crap! Why didn’t I have goggles?
Half-frozen fingers clutched the ripcord like a talisman.
Holy Mother of God! What had my jump instructor said? Why hadn’t I taken actual lessons? Why in the name of God’s Left Nostril had I agreed to fly with Uncle Ben and Evan? Everyone knew single-engine planes were death traps. Why wasn’t I sleeping uncomfortably on some commercial flight?
Surely I was dreaming. Yeah. That was it. I was still asleep. Evan would wake me up any second now; laugh at my girly screams of terror. Just a dream. I relaxed as far as my ice-cold skin and chest- and leg-straps would allow.
Yeah. Right. A dream where if I didn’t pull the cord soon, I’d splatter on the ground and never wake up.
Get a grip on yourself, man! You’re not an idiot. You can do this. Force your eyes open, face reality, and pull that God-forsaken cord.
With stoic determination, I pulled the cord. The chute deployed—score one for my side!—and jerked me upright. Thank all that’s holy, I’d managed to get it on right and tight. The rush of air eased, though it didn’t warm any. I glanced up at the silk mushroom above my head, and then tried to make sense of my surroundings. Far to my right I could just make out the white circle of Evan’s chute as it neared the earth. We wouldn’t find each other anytime soon. My hesitation had cost me his companionship in this surreal event. To my left the mountain shone in the early morning light. My heart rate relaxed as I absorbed the stark beauty. When would I ever experience this again? Swaying in the arms of the wind while a hoary old-man mountain stood guard?
A flash of light and a distant roar of explosion jerked me back to reality. That mountain wasn’t benign. It had just eaten our aircraft.
I glanced beneath my feet. The earth approached rapidly. Nothing beautiful about the vast expanse of nature below me; those heavily forested slopes were my enemy. I searched the tangle of evergreens for a town, a farmstead, a road winding through its depths. Nothing. No sign of man. The forest primeval prevailed. And it didn’t look remotely inviting.
