“Jump, man!”
“You can’t do it, wimp!”
“It’s easy-peasy!”
“Take the leap, mousy!”
Everybody was yelling at him from behind as he stood at the edge of the cliff, in a harness, ready to bungee jump any moment now.
‘Mousy’, his friends used to call him. He was the meekest boy in class, the coward. He wanted to be the jock, the geek, the freak—anybody but mousy.
He’d always been afraid. Even today, he wanted to back-off and explain to them that he was acrophobic. But he didn’t want to be Mousy anymore.
His mind was screaming incessantly… What if the rope breaks? What if I fall? My head would hit that rock over there. What if I fall?
A hand from behind tapped him on the shoulder. It was one of the instructors smiling at him. He bent down and whispered in his ears, “Instead of thinking what if I fall, try what if I fly.”
With that, the instructor took a step back and pushed him off.
He was frozen with fear, he was falling, he could hear his heart pumping, I’m falling, I’m falling.
The instructor’s words echoed in his ears.
What if I fly?
He opened his eyes and spread his arms, the wind rushed past his ears, through his hair.
He forgot about his friends, he forgot about the bungee, he forgot about Mousy.
He flew.
He felt a jolt as the bungee reached its limit. Suspended a few feet above the ground, he was elated. He knew his life would never be the same.
He smiled to himself. He was going to miss Mousy.