Standing at the precipice of a 96 foot cliff, I was grateful none of the guys could see my face… or my chest. I was a horrible liar and I was sure my heart was visibly thumping. It felt like two fists were punching me from the inside out:

Left-right, left-right.

Left-right, left-right.

Mr. Fear screaming, “Let me out!!! Flight not fight!”

They said I was too scared to jump. They were right, but I couldn’t let them know that.

“Pussy!” one dick yelled, and I could hear the smirk on his face.

That’s right, I thought proudly, and I leapt. For a second, Mr. Fear stopped punching me. My heart froze as I sucked in a deep breath and plummeted toward the teal blue water below.

My feet stung briefly as they smacked the surface and the water enveloped me like a warm hug. Bubbly sloshing filled my ears and faded to a soft static hum.

As my descent slowed, before I began to rise, I was suspended for an instant. I opened my eyes and looked upwards. I saw the hot yellow sun behind pink and orange Day-Glo ripples swaying and shivering across the surface; tunnel vision with fuzzy edges.

I smiled and rose.

P.S. – This is a fictional story, I never jumped off a cliff. I once emptied my bank account to go skydiving on a dare, though, but that a different story.

Anyway… doesn’t this photo look like a sunset seen beneath tropical waters? I imagined what it would be like to experience a sunset underwater, and then I wondered how I got there. This is the story I dug out of that.

I think I’ll be playing with fiction a bit more in upcoming stories.

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