“SHIIIIT!”
The ground was getting a little too close for comfort as I tugged at my parachute lines. Damn things got entangled when I opened my chute, and my reserve wouldn’t deploy. Now here I am spinning uncontrollably as I watched the tree covered ground come closer and closer.
Let me tell you something first, my name is Brian, I’m what most people would call and adventure seeker. I go all around and do what people would call ‘crazy’, ‘stupid’, or down right ‘reckless’. But hey we only have one life to live, and I love the adrenaline rush that these “adventures” give me. Nothing like the feeling of getting my blood flowing as my adrenaline pumps into my body.
But today was a special day; it was my 100th skydiving jump. Now some people would say, “Why would you jump out of a perfectly good airplane?” My reply is, “Because it’s fun.” But today was not turning out to be a fun day. It started out just like any other day; I woke up, ate breakfast, took a shower and left for the skydiving school. I got there, dawned my jump suite and chute and loaded onto the plane. But if I had known that my chute was going to fail this badly today I would have stayed in bed.
The plane ride went fine; we got to 4000 feet with ease.
Now, I was at the end of the line this time, as I watched everyone jump from the open door, my heart began to beat faster, not in fear but in excitement. The rush, the feeling of the wind flowing through my hair… I love it!
As the last man jumped I knew it was my turn, without a second thought I bailed out of the small aircraft. Within seconds I made terminal velocity of roughly 120 mile an hour, I began my stunts. I enjoy the spinning, flips and turns that come with freefall, you've never fell more alive when you are so close to death. But today I didn’t know that I was going to stare death right in the face.
Once I hit the 2000 foot mark it was time to pull my chute. I grabbed the cord and gave it a very forceful tug. The chute opened as I was jerked up violently, but instead of coming to a rather ‘violent’ deceleration, I began to spin uncontrollably. Immediately I jerked my head up to look at the damage. My chute was tangled in the lines. Now...if all these years of doing extreme stunts I learned one thing… don’t panic. Immediately I grabbed for the release on my chute, but the shit really hit the fan… my main chute failed to release.
Okay no biggy, I reached for the knife I carry on my left breast instead, without hesitation I grabbed the tool and yanked it free of its sheath. As I grabbed the tangled lines with my left hand I began to saw at them with my right, but unfortunately… the tangled lines grabbed my hand in the wind, causing me to drop the knife. The last bit of hope I had… fell to the earth below.
Now I began to panic as I tugged on the tangled lines. “SHITSHITSHIT!”
The trees begin to become larger and larger. My breathing began to get heavier… well, more heavier than it was. I continued to tug at the lines, trying frantically to open the tangled chute, but it was no use.
I began to say my good byes, “Mom… dad, I love both of you, Liza, sis, I love you with all my heart, please be strong for me.”
I finally felt the wood tree branches connect with my body; pain began to fill my senses as I fell to the ground through the maze of thick branches. I screamed in agony as I fell to the ground, after what felt like an eternity… I hit the ground with a loud and painful thud. I screamed in agony as I laid on the cold hard ground. I could taste blood in my mouth, I was severely hurt, and I knew it, I just hoped that someone would come and help me. As the agonizing seconds passed, I began to blackout.
My eye lids fell and opened, in a bloody and blurry haze I saw a purple figure approach. It was no human, it resembled something like a horse, but it didn’t have the right height. I blacked out shortly before it reached me. I awoke to see that I was hovering above the tree line. But the pain I was feeling was unbearable, I just wanted to die. Through the pain I was able to raise my head ever so slightly, I looked right into the beings eyes, it looked determined, but also scared.
“Help me,” I mumbled, “please… stop the pain.”
I blacked out once again.