Her toes curled over the rock edge, clutching at the rough stone. Pebbles reached up to jab the soles of her feet, but she did not dare move them for fear of falling.
But didn’t she want to fall? Wasn’t that how it worked? Didn’t she need to fall, trust the world to catch her, and help her soar as the birds did? But there was more to it than that. There had to be. Jumping would be so easy, but that was it. If she jumped her world could end, or it could just be beginning.
She looked down, and immediately regretted it. The ground was thousands of feet below. The sheer rocks walls extending down on either side of her were lit with the sunlight streaming through the atmosphere before her. From this height the towering pines appeared as little green specks. Surely there were animals roaming around, but they were so far below she wouldn’t be able to make them out even if she knew where they were grazing and hunting. Looking up she saw mountains jutting up from the earth; towering with shear rock faces and glaciers that glinted in the sun light. Shadows fanned out like flags in a breeze behind ridges and in valleys. The air was clean and warm. The sky a brilliant blue and a light breeze ruffled her hair.
A little bird flew up from below and landed next to her on the edge of the cliff. Its little head jerked around taking in the surroundings. Its feathers were an earthly green, and the beak a pale yellow.
“What do you think?” she asked it. “Should I jump?”
The bird chirped and unfolded its wings. Launching off from the rocks, it dove down out of sight, before appearing again is it rose above the cliff edge. It whistled and flew away in search of worms.
“Ok,” she said aloud, taking in a deep breath. “I jump.”
And she did.
She was falling faster than she had expected. The air rushed past her ears with a roar. The ground came speeding up. The trees slowly came into sharper focus. It’s not going to work! She screamed to herself. She shook her head with difficulty, calming herself. She willed it to happen. In such a way, she might have been jumping from cliffs her entire life.
Then just before she gave up hope, she was flying. She rose and looked around at the beautiful world around her.
Everything world be different now. She could do anything, be anyone, she only had to trust in the world enough to soar.
I had to take a deep breath!
I found myself taking deep breaths while writing this as well