Author's website: http://uk.geocities.com/ace_leary380/

Disclaimer: No, I have no desire to harm anyone with this trifle. I write for fun only. And maybe a little feedback.

Author's Notes: Frannie and Kowalski seemed to be the only ones willing to be in this fic. Thanks, you two.

Story Notes: This was inspired by my brother's insane desire to go skydiving.

"No. No way. Absolutely not. Not now, not ever!"

Francesca had decided that there was no chance in heaven or hell that she was jumping out of that airplane.

It was far too high to go - over ten thousand feet - and that little plane...the engine sounded like it was taken right out of a lawnmower.

She didn't care if it was a tandem jump with a pro. Nothing that looked like that could possibly be safe. The panic had seized her, clamping down her jaw and tying her stomach in knots.

Ray stood by, rubbing her back, trying to reassure her, but he could see he wasn't having very much success.

"It's very safe, Frannie," he said in a low voice. "Thousands of people jump every day. They check and double check everything. These small planes are much safer than those jumbo jets, too." Ray continued murmuring in a soothing voice, but he knew his voice wasn't getting through.

"Ray, I can't. I just can't," Francesca said, her voice shaking. "It's too...it's too..." She couldn't finish, but Ray understood.

"Look, Frannie, I'm not going to force you to go up. This is supposed to be fun, not a nightmare." He took her in his arms and held her tight, slightly rocking. "If you don't want to go, then you don't have to, all right?" He could still feel her trembling, but it was slowly subsiding.

"Are you still going to go?" she asked, her voice muffled because her face was pressed up against his chest.

"Well, yeah," he said. Immediately her body stiffened and he knew he'd said the wrong thing. But he didn't want to miss out on this opportunity, either. "Frannie, it's fine, really. It'll be great."

"I don't want you to go without me," she whispered, clutching his shirt in her fist.

He thought over his options. He could take Frannie & go home right now, even though he'd been looking forward to this for eight months: the jump was a wedding gift from Frannie's brother-in-law. Their coupon would expire before they'd get back to the countryside again.

He could jump without Frannie, but he knew that if he did, he'd be wishing the parachute didn't open. No matter what she was saying now, she'd regret that they didn't do this together. Then he would regret it.

Or, he could try and convince her to jump today. How was he going to do that? He checked his watch. Their turn was coming up here in an hour or so. They needed to make their decision.

"Okay, honey, I'll tell you what. How's this for a plan: let's go through the training, at least, and if you still don't want to jump, then that's the end of it, okay? At least give it a chance."

She didn't think that was a good plan at all, but she knew how much Ray wanted to do this. Not trusting herself to speak, she simply nodded.

Actually, she'd been looking forward to this jump, too, until they showed up at the airport. She'd been expecting something professional-looking, like an international airport but smaller. But there wasn't even a paved runway, just acres and acres of mown grass, and beyond that, fields of weeds. The hangars were regular barns, and they were old and run down - one even looked like it would collapse in a stiff wind. Single-engine planes took off and landed with no rhyme or reason. And one stunt plane was practicing its stunts - rolling and diving and spinning. That was making her the most nervous. The whole scene was making her weak in the knees, and she wondered how she ever thought this might be fun.

Ray took her hand and pulled her toward the hangar, where the instructors were waiting.

After the training, she felt a little better. The pro-jumper, Gus, was very knowledgeable and forthright. He didn't try to sugar-coat anything, or push her into jumping. "If you're not ready, Francesca, then don't go. Everybody gets butterflies, but I don't want you freezing up out there."

Ray stood by smiling, looking relaxed and happy. Her resolve softened. She really did love him, and if this would make him happy...

Gus said it was really safe, too. "You are going to have the safest jump imaginable. I wouldn't go myself if it wasn't safe," he said.

"Do you check everything yourself?" Ray asked.

"Yep. I pack the chute, I check the harness. Altimeter's working just fine. We have the best pilot at the airport flying us up there today. We even have perfect weather. Everything is A-OK," he explained.

Frannie walked over to Ray and hugged him tight. "Hey, hey," he said softly, hugging her, and kissed the top of her head. "So what do you think?"

She took a deep breath and blew it out. "Let's go."

He picked her up triumphantly and swung her around in great circles as she giggled. He loved to make her laugh, and he loved to see her being adventurous. He knew that once they were up there, floating above the ground ten thousand feet, she'd thank him for standing firm, for encouraging her to go. He thought about how strong she really was, and he felt his heart swell with love for his daring, courageous, extraordinary wife.

The buzzing of the engine was so loud, she couldn't hear herself think. And it was so hot and stuffy, she was sweating through her neon pink nylon jumpsuit. She was strapped onto a strange man's chest, and practically sitting on his lap. And her ankle was falling asleep from the awkward position they were sitting in.

Ray was similarly strapped to another man, the other pro, Joey. Frannie smiled just looking at her husband - he couldn't stop grinning. When he glanced at her, he smiled wider and mouthed 'I love you.' She blew him a kiss and mouthed 'I love you' back.

Now that they were up here, she was very calm. Sure, she still had butterflies, but a kind of peace had settled over her. Everything was fine. Each of them had a professional skydiver strapped to their backs, and they wouldn't let anything bad happen.

Frannie looked out the window, and marveled at how high they were. The farms and towns below them looked so different from this altitude. And things were so calm up here. Well, except for the deafening roar of the plane's engine. She even saw a large vulture flying with them for a while, riding the same thermals the plane was.

Suddenly, the roaring changed pitch, plane slowed down, and she felt a rough tap on her shoulder. Gus shouted in her ear, "This is it. Are you ready to skydive?"

Her stomach seized up and she couldn't move. Now? We're going now?! Gus shouted again, "Frannie? You ready?" Well, it's now or never, she thought. She shouted, "Yeah!"

As they had practiced in their training session, they scooted over to the door and opened it. The wind almost knocked her over, but Gus steadied her. He looked back at Ray & Joey and gave them a thumbs-up.

Together they hung their feet out of the large opening. Awkwardly they shifted onto the step, swinging in unison to stand in the buffeting wind. Frannie realized she was panting - she was really nervous. They were about to jump out of a perfectly good airplane, because her retarded brother-in-law had thought this would be a good present. And here she was going right along with it, like a sheep! What kind of normal person does this?

She was about to tell Gus that she wasn't going to jump, when he yelled in her ear again. "Ready? Three, two, one..." She closed her eyes, let go of the bar, and before she knew it, they were falling!

She couldn't open her eyes. She lost all perspective after a few seconds, and couldn't tell what was happening. She felt nothing but the wind, couldn't even believe they were descending faster and faster. Gus shouted at her, "Frannie, is this incredible, or what?!"

She peeked. Then she couldn't not look. It was incredible. They were flying! Flying like that vulture she'd seen earlier. If it weren't for the violent wind pounding against her body, she would feel like they were floating.

Gus tapped her wrist and she barely heard him shout at her. "Time to open the chute!" She reached down with him and they got hold of the ripcord. "Three, two, one..." and they pulled. The parachute deployed, and a second later, they were brutally rocked as their descent abruptly slowed.

Then they really were floating. Gus said, "Hey, you okay?"

"Oh, yeah, this is great!" Frannie exclaimed. She craned her neck, and saw Ray and Joey drifting near them. She waved, and he waved back. "Amazing! This is amazing!" she shouted.

She never felt so powerful and free. The ride seemed to last forever as they glided back and forth across the powder blue sky. Too soon, the ground was rushing up to meet them. Gus pulled on the steering ropes and they hit the ground running.

She'd done it. Jumped out of a plane and lived to tell the tale!

Gus began to unstrap them and she stepped out of the harness. Assistants rushed over to help with their chute, while Ray and Joey landed nearby. As soon as Ray was released he rushed over to where his wife waited.

"Oh, Frannie!" he cried out, hugging her tight. "Wasn't that unbelievable?!" Finally he released her and beamed into her face.

She smiled up at him. "Hey, Ray, did you break something in your face?" she asked.

"Hey, that's my line," he said and kissed her, tenderly. "Love you, Frannie," he said when they parted.

"Love you, Ray."

"You are so brave! I'm really glad you jumped with me."

"You know what? I'm glad I did, too."

THE END

End The Jump by tiffany: tttm333@yahoo.com

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