Leaping

The pounding of my heart was almost deafening in my ears.

The fear was intense.

But I could hear these little voices below.

“Come on mum.” “You can do it.”

Just moments before we had swum across the river. Being pushed by the current and fighting to help the girls from drifting off course.

As I had moved through the crystal clear, fresh water I had looked up at the cliff platform and thought, “oh that’s not too high.”

As we climbed up to the rocky edge I had begun to question my sanity.

My partner and two girls were ahead of me.

Each had stood at the edge and taken the leap, plunging the several meters into the water below.

Now, all three were below. Laughing and riding the high of that adrenaline fuelled jump.

Behind me were a group of teenage boys, eager to make the leap as well.

I could feel the edge of the rock with my toes.

See the family below.

All I could think was, “what the hell am I doing up here, I hate heights.”

But I knew I had to jump.

I wanted to jump.

The girls had done it.

The teenagers were raring to go behind me.

And so I stepped off with my eyes closed.

The couple of seconds of free fall felt like an eternity.

My heart in my mouth.

Forgetting to breathe I was so scared.

Then slap!

I hit the water hard and down I went deep under the surface.

In the next second I was up, spluttering and fighting for breath. The water had gone up my nose and given me that weird drowning feeling.

But all I could hear were the cheers of my family.

“You did it mum!”

“Woohooo mum!”

“Great job babe!”

Wow!

I had done it.

Taken the leap and faced the fear.