The Leap

I was making breakfast when there was a knock at my door. My boyfriend, Travis jogged to get it as I took the steaks out of the cast iron skillet. While I waited for him to return, I fixed our plates and listened out for anything interesting. I didn’t hear a word; not a casual greeting or the surprised reaction of my mother finding Travis in my apartment.

He returned with a frown and a small box in hand. I watched him place it on the counter as I raised an eyebrow.

“What’s this?”

“I was hoping you would tell me,” he replied as I stared at the package.

“I’ll take these,” Travis murmured as he gathered our breakfast and carried it to the dining room table.

“I wasn’t expecting anything,” I whispered.

While he grabbed glasses and juice from the refrigerator I retrieved a steak knife from one of my cabinets and cut the box open. Inside sat a little black book. I picked it up and looked at the first page to try and figure out who sent it. Inside was a short note that read, “Candice Lee, you are entitled to a large sum of money. To obtain it you must follow these rules.” As soon as I finished reading the second line I sighed and chucked the book across the room. Travis grabbed it off of the floor before we sat at the dining room table together.

“What was that about?” he asked as I shook my head.

“Some money scam or something.”

“Oh,” he replied as he shrugged and thumbed through the book.

“I don’t see a number or anything in here…” he said before reading the note.

“Did you read the whole thing?”

“No, did I miss the 877 Cash Now?” I giggled as he smirked.

“No, but this seems different. They want you to meet someone and participate in some kind of activity this afternoon.”

“What?” I asked and he handed the book back to me.

There were instructions to meet a “familiar stranger”. Someone who I shared a bond with and didn’t know. I chewed on the inside of my cheek as I looked at the address that was for a nearby park. It was requested that I show up there by 12:30PM. Travis ate a forkful of eggs while I nursed my juice.

“What if it’s someone trying to kidnap me?” I asked as he shrugged.

“What if it’s not?”

Travis drove me to the park in his Jeep while my stomach flipped and turned. I never did anything like this before, something so impulsive. He sipped his iced coffee as I held on to the book and went through all of the possible scenarios in my mind. This could be some weird personalized invitation to a pyramid scheme or a clever kidnapping ruse. I even thought that it may be some eccentric millionaire’s way of passing the time. As we neared the park I lost my nerve.

“This is a mistake, let’s go back home.”

“Come on, we’re already here,” he said as he placed his hand on my thigh.

My worried eyes searched the area but I couldn’t figure out where I was supposed to go. I decided to take a seat on one of the benches outside of the tennis courts but inside of Travis’s view in the car. My thumbs flipped the pages in the book while I looked around and pulled in a deep breath.

I froze as someone sat next to me and a chill traveled across my back. When I turned into them, it was a beautiful woman. She had her hair pulled up into a ponytail and her kinky, black curls reached the middle of her back. Her nutmeg colored skin was beautiful, shiny and smooth. I couldn’t help but admire her pretty almond shaped eyes and dazzling smile. There was also a similar black book in her hands.

“Hi, I’m Serene,” she offered her hand and I hesitated before shaking it.

“Hey… I’m Candice.”

She stared at me, examining my face while I awkwardly averted my gaze to the courts. I watched people play as I waited for her to speak.

“I was instructed to get you,” Serene finally spoke and I returned my attention to her.

“We’re going to take a small trip and do something very exciting.”

“This sounds like a lot,” I mumbled and she nodded in agreement.

“It is, but it will be worth it.”

“Where are we going?” I questioned as she stood up.

“Let’s go. Your boyfriend can come too if that would make you feel more comfortable.”

It turned out that we had a lot in common. I rode shotgun and Travis followed Serene’s Mustang while she probed me for information on our way to an unknown destination. We’re both from the city, but we went to colleges on opposite sides of the country. Our household’s were similar; we grew up with single parents who tried to do their best by us. She loved to dance and I was a singer. Serene kind of felt like a familiar soul, a friend that I knew for a while. We felt comfortable around each other in a matter of minutes, but there was something off. I could tell that she was keeping something close to the chest, but I didn’t feel like she had malicious intent.

She started to drive toward an airfield and my chest tightened.

“What are we doing here?” I asked as she turned to me and grinned.

“We’re going to take a leap of faith.”

My heart felt like it was going to explode in my chest as we stood in the jump plane, 14,000 feet in the air. Sweat dribbled from my forehead while my stomach threatened nausea. Serene looked out of opening while I tried not to hyperventilate looking at the humongous drop that awaited us. Our instructors Malcolm and Isaiah stood behind us, connected to our bodies by straps as they tried to prepare us for the jump. Their words fell on deaf ears.

What if I die?

The thought wouldn’t leave my head. My heart threatened to beat out of my chest as Isaiah and Serene walked to the doorway. She looked at me and smiled as he prepared to jump.

“There’s $20,000 at the bottom. I hope I see you down there, sis.”

Then they were gone. I watched in amazement as their bodies flew through the sky. Malcolm walked me to the edge and I shook my head as I placed my hand against the wall of the plane.

“I can’t do this.”

“Yes you can,” he replied.

“It’s scary at first, but once we’re in the sky and you let go… you’re going to enjoy it.”

“Am I really going to squander an easy $20,000?” I asked myself.

“Are you ready?” Malcolm leaned forward as I pulled my hand back and took a deep breath.

“I’m ready.”

Even with my eyes closed, the feeling of dropping from the plane made me panic. It was only when I opened my eyes and felt the wind skitter across my face that I realized how beautiful it was. We were flying; zipping through the air at the mercy of the wind. I could see Serene’s parachute and it helped me relax as I cracked a smile.

“It’s amazing, isn’t it?” Malcolm yelled as I stared at the earth beneath us.

“It’s surreal!”

Before I knew it, he was pulling on the strap and the parachute began to slow our descent. When our feet touched the ground my legs began to tremble. Serene jogged over and practically tackled me as soon as I was free.

“We did it!” she exclaimed as I hugged her back confused.

“We did… that was wild,” I replied.

“How did it feel?” she asked as a golf cart came to retrieve us.

“Like I was powerless, but it was incredible.”

“I get what you mean!” she gushed.

“I’ve never felt anything like it.”

As we left the building and headed to her car, Serene pulled her journal out of her bag. She handed it to me and I inspected the tattered book, paying attention to the piece of paper that was nestled between the pages like a bookmark. There it was, a check for $20,000. I flipped to the beginning of the journal and inspected the first page that was riddled with marks and what looked like coffee stains.

“Property of Richard Myers.”

Serene crossed her arms as I stared at the name.

“You know, you remind me of him,” she began as I closed it.

“Our dad.”

“Our dad?” I repeated as my stomach dropped.

“You’re my sister?”

“I am… I just found out about you a couple of months ago,” she replied.

“Around the same time I met him.”

“Well where is he?” I took a step back and looked around waiting for a mysterious figure to appear.

“He’s… not here.”

Serene’s eyes became glossy as she explained that our father sought her out when he found out that he was terminally ill. The plan was to visit the oldest first and if all things went well, they would find me next. By the time they were acquainted, he took a turn for the worse and he wasn’t able to meet me. He wrote out a will, leaving money for the two of us as well as two properties; one in our hometown Rochester and one in Poughkeepsie. Her little black book, the one she just gave me turned out to be his diary. Richard wanted me to have it so I could learn as much about him as possible.

This is… this is too much.

“So,” Serene looked at me as I held the book to my stomach.

“I was hoping you would take a week to hang out with me and check out these properties. We can decide what to do with them together.”

“I…” I lost my thought while she waited for a response.

“Did he want me to jump out of that plane?”

“No,” she chuckled.

“He always wanted to skydive but he was too afraid. I figured that was something we could do together in his memory.”

“Oh,” I murmured, my mind was a cluster bomb waiting to explode.

“We don’t have to,” Serene shook her head and shrugged.

“We can try something a little slower paced. Maybe dinner sometime or something…” she rambled.

“I mean…” I began as I playfully bumped my sister, knocking her off balance.

“What’s one more leap?”