The Jump	  The Jump

 by tiffany

  

 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

Author and story notes above.