Inspired by Sue Grafton’s alphabetical series. SHORT AND SWEET, LIKE THE SUBJECT MATTER!
“Are you sure you want to do this?”
My wife Annie just glared at me. It was hardly a question to ask seeing as we were 14,000 feet above the ground. I wasn’t trying to be mean; I just wanted to make sure that she was really willing to help me test my new tandem harness.
“Donnie, I told you that I’d do it. What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. Just wanted to double-check.”
Annie took my hands and smiled into the same warm brown eyes that I’d known for nearly twenty years. “I trust you, honey.” I knew she did. She had trusted me to quit my job all those years ago and started the parachute company. She trusted me to sink huge amounts of money into fleets of airplanes. She trusted me to travel the country without her, doing shows for months at a time. I knew that she trusted me. It was just that I had never jumped with her and my stomach was tied up in knots.
“Okay, sir!” Jerry radioed to me. “We’re over the target.”
“Great.” I answered, then motioned Annie to come to me. I snapped the harness on and made sure that everything was ready. I didn’t need to give her any instructions; I’d filled her ear with information on the drive up and again, when we got into the plane. The harness we were testing was a new formation. Instead of the usual tandem harness where the client faces away from the instructor, the client and instructor are face to face. “Ready?”
I saw a sparkle in Annie’s eye when she nodded but I wouldn’t know what it was about until we were airborne. We stepped out and began to fly, freefalling towards the earth below.