Chapter IV: Fall Fast

The cold grass tickled the bottom of Jaci’s feet as she padded back down the hill to the house. She smiled as she jumped over a patch of gravel at the base of the steps. Looking behind her, she saw wet marks her feet left.

Going inside, she saw that the table was already set and the food was ready. She also saw there was another place set.

“Thomas!” MeMa called. “You can join us.”

Thomas peeked his head inside and the rest of his body followed. He walked over to the table and sat down, pulling the chair in under him.

MeMa and Pa held hands and MeMa reached for Jaci’s. She looked at the confused. They hadn’t done this at dinner last night.

“We’re going to pray,” her grandmother clarified.

Jaci looked at Thomas who was already holding hands with Pa and was offering his hand to her. She reluctantly took it, a little confused as to why exactly they did this. Pa prayed, asking God to bless the food. As soon as it was over, they began to eat.

It been forever since Jaci’d had a good breakfast. Most of the time, she just had a bowl of cereal but if she was late, a protein bar. Not that there was anything wrong with her eating habits, she just enjoyed home cooked food.

Thanks for breakfast. She singed.

Her grandmother nodded, cutting her pancakes into little squares. Jaci watched as she practically drowned them in syrup.

She smiled. Her mom would never let her get away with doing– Jaci stopped herself, a sudden sadness coming over her. It had been closer to six months but it still felt like yesterday that her mother was sitting next to her, scolding her for putting to much butter or too much syrup on her pancakes. It was just like yesterday that she could talk– that she could be normal.

“Are you okay. Jaci?” MeMa asked, setting her fork and knife down.

She snapped out of it, looking at her grandmother and then down at her plate, nodding.

Sorry, she signed. Got caught up in the moment.

Her grandmother nodded, going back to eating.

Jaci ate but it was like she was in autopilot. She knew she was putting food in her mouth, she knew she was chewing, she knew she was swallowing it, but it she was doing it subconsciously.

Soon, she realized that all the food was gone and she was chewing on an empty fork. She stood up and put the plate in the sink. She wanted to go upstairs and lay in her bed for a couple minutes, letting her food digest and to sort out some thoughts.

But as she made her way to the stairs, she was stopped by Thomas. He caught her arm, pulling her back from the stairs.

“Wow, there,” he said, smiling from ear-to-ear. “Where are we zippin’ off too?”

She nodded up the stairs.

“Yeah, I figured as much,” his smile seemed to get bigger. “But today is your first day here and there’s somethings you have to do.”

She raised an eyebrow at him.

“Admittedly, it does sound a little fishy but, trust me, okay?” he gave her a pleading look and if he had been five years younger, it might have worked.

She pulled her phone out of her pocket and quickly typed, Why?

“Because I know this area and I know the best places to go swimming,” he answered.

“Come on, please?”

Jaci nodded and was immediately dragged towards the door.

“Get your shoes and follow me,” he said, vaulting over the porch railing.

She grabbed her shoes, looked at the railing, and then ran to the end of the porch and

down the stairs, smiling. Jaci missed laughing. She wanted to laugh. She was happy. But she couldn’t.

I’m not going to think about that right now. She told herself, running up the hill behind Thomas.

He stopped at the weeping cherry tree, waiting for her to catch up. Once she had, he took off again, running down the hill and veering to the left. She followed, twigs and rocks pocking her in the feet. She was half-tempted to stop and put her flip flops on but she knew that if she did that, she’d probably lose sight of Thomas all together.

He was fast, faster than he looked and Jaci struggled to keep up with him. She had been a fast runner at one point in her life, closer to the age of twelve, but now she was mediocre, able to keep up with the majority of the kids in PE class.

She watched as he stopped at the edge of a wooded area, looking back to see how she was doing. She slowed to a stop and put her hands on her knees, gasping for breath. Thomas wasn’t even breathing hard.

That is not okay. She thought.

He smiled at her. “You’ll get faster the longer you live here.”

She smirked, giving him a Really? Look.

He just smiled bigger and began walking into the woods. She followed, stepping over rocks and fallen tree limbs. After a few minutes of walking, they arrived on the edge of a rock face which looked out over a decent sized lake.

Thomas looked at her, a mischievous smile on his face.

Shaking her head, she stepped back, pulling her phone out of her pocket. She typed, I am not jumping.

“Why not?” he asked after reading the message. “It’s fun!”

She shook her head. I’m not good with heights.

He sat back on his heels, crossing his arms over his chest. “Close your eyes.”

Her eyes widened. What? No!

“Trust me,” he said.

She did even though there was a little voice in the back of her head telling her not to. The old Jaci would be afraid to jump, to trust someone but the new Jaci– the person she was– wouldn’t be afraid.

She closed her eyes, trusting. He put a hand on her left elbow and one on her right, guiding her so she was in front of him. She could feel the edge of the rock face beneath her toes and her heart pounded in her chest.

“Okay,” he said. “Take in a deep breath and pinch your nose.”

She did, setting her phone down on a nearby rock.

“Now just step forward,” he instructed.

She couldn’t make her feet move. She couldn’t do anything but stand there, not breathing, not moving.

"You know how to swim, right?” he asked.

She nodded.

“Okay, you have nothing to worry about then. Just step off,” he said, taking a hand of of her left elbow.

She wanted him to put it back on, to give her a little bit of comfort. She wanted to step back from the edge and chicken out. But she couldn’t. She wouldn’t.

“Fall fast. It’s fun– I promise.”

He said the words softly with a hint of a smile in his tone. She took in a deep breathe, pinched her nose, and stepped forward.

She didn’t exactly step off but rather launched herself with a little bit of a jump. As she took off, the voice in the back of her head went from a whisper to a scream, yelling at her to stop.

But she couldn’t stop. The fall was– amazing. The feeling of the air rushing by was almost like she was flying. When she hit the water, her feet burned from impact. The cold water enveloped her like a hug– a cold one– and she sunk to the bottom where she pushed off with her feet, kicking to the top.

“See it wasn’t that bad,” Thomas yelled down at her.

She smiled, waving for him to jump.

He did, landing in the water just a few feet away from her.

“Wow, that never gets old,” he said when he surfaced, shaking his wet hair from his face. He looked at her. “Again?”

She smiled and doggy pattled to shore, pulling herself out onto a bigger rock. Thomas followed, giving her a boost until she found her footing. She practically ran up the hill and around the cliff edge, heart beating in her chest. Not from fear but rather from excitement.

She stood once more on the edge of the cliff, waiting for Thomas. She looked at him as he stepped up beside her.

“Are you goin’ first?” he asked.

She shook her head. No.

“Then I will,” he said.

She stepped back and he stepped forward, launching himself off. He flipped, brining his feet over his head and then down into the water, making a surprisinly small splash. When he surfaced, he looked up at Jaci.

“You’re turn!” he hollered.

Jaci took a few steps back and got a running jump, arms propelling her forward. She brought her legs over her head, grabbing her legs and bringing them into a pike position. She flipped twice before splashing into the water.

“Show off!” Thomas yelled, flicking water at her. She flicked some back at him, smiling.

*******

Jaci plopped down onto the porch stairs next to Thomas, a towel swung loosely around her shoulders. Thomas was rubbing his towel through his hair, messy curls falling every which way. She smiled, wiping one out of his face.

“Thanks,” he said, letting his towel drop around his shoulders. He looked at her. “How are you so good at swimming?”

She pulled her phone out and typed her answer. I used to do a lot of swimming back in the city. Before the accident. I would swim with my friend Drew.

“Ah, makes sense,” he wrapped his towel around him, burrying his chin into the gathered part at the top. A gently breeze blew, making Jaci shiver. She tightened her towel around herself and brought her knees up to her chest.

“Tell me about the city,” he said, breaking the peaceful silence.

It’s noisy, nothing like here. But you come to love the noise. There’s a ton of people who are all in their own little bubbles, barely even recognizing that there’s others around them. There’s a lot of cars, more people walk then drive, but there’s still a lot of them. In places like Little Italy and Chinatown, there are a lot of shops. You can barter with the shopkeepers there, lie a little bit and they’ll do anything to make a sale. She stopped and handed the phone to him.

“Wow, it sounds awesome,” he said, eyes lighting up.

Yeah, it is. But it’s easy to get ignored and lost. It’s easy to go unnoticed. She responded.

He nodded. “I’ve never been to the city.”

Why? She asked.

“My mom doesn’t like all the noise and what not. It reminds her of dad,” he answered.

He went to say more but MeMa called for Jaci.

Jaci looked at him and then at the door before getting up, giving him a pat on the shoulder, her way of saying I’ll be back.

He nodded, understanding what she meant. He fell back against porch, staring up at the sky, thinking.

"Why does life have to be so unfair?"

We ran as if to meet the moon. ― Robert Frost