Standing on the edge of life and death, Riya was ready to jump at any moment.
“I can’t live like this anymore,” she whispered to herself with her eyes closed.
A strong wind blew on her face as if trying to push her back. But she didn’t budge. Instead, she took one more step forward. Now, she was staring at death itself.
Life was not always a game of life and death for Riya. But all her hopes, dreams, and the will to live crumbled in front of her eyes when she became paraplegic after an accident.
Riya was 28 at that time. She was waiting for a promotion and planning a long-overdue holiday. Little did she know that her life would come to a standstill.
After the accident, Riya became dependent on others for almost everything. While her family and friends supported her in every way they could, she felt broken inside due to her disability.
Somewhere she had read that life is what you make it. The you part was stuck in her mind like a stubborn thorn. Can I still turn around my life? Riya often wondered. She could either start again or give in to her misery. Now, she had made her choice.
Standing on the edge, she opened her eyes, looked down, and jumped.
She felt lifeless during the last few months, but now she finally got the taste of joy.
Riya’s life flashed in front of her eyes when she was still mid-air. Her friends, family, job, plans, the backpack she had bought. The thoughts of everything she loved and held dear began to flow in her mind. She was falling to the ground at the speed of a bullet. But to her, time seemed to have slowed down.
She felt lifeless during the last few months, but now she finally got the taste of joy. She didn’t feel disabled nor a prisoner of her own mind. She was free.
A moment later, a hand above Riya’s shoulder pulled the drogue out of the pouch. She had completely forgotten about the instructor who was tethered with her through a harness.
The parachute opened and instead of going down, she began to move up.
Riya was flying, away from her pain, and moving towards the beginning of a new chapter in her life.