Week 66 – It’s really hard!
“Would you hurry up already.”
“It’s really hard!” she protested immediately.
“No its not,” her boyfriend repeated for probably the twentieth time in the last five minutes. “You just stand at the edge, and jump.”
He made it sound so easy.
Which it probably would be if she wasn’t afraid of heights. How had she let him talk her into jumping off the high diving board? She didn’t even really like swimming and she hated heights so jumping off a 25 foot diving board into the water was not high on her to do list.
If she and her boyfriend hadn’t had a deal she wouldn’t be doing it at all. She hadn’t expected that he would actually read every single one of the books in her favorite romance series. It was part of their pledge to take more of an interest in the things each other liked, reading for her, and water related stuff for him. He had done his side of things and now it was time to do hers.
He stood behind her, his hands on her shoulders, kneading gently. “Just close your eyes, count backwards from five and do it.”
Okay.
Okay.
She could do this.
Five.
It was only a jump.
Four.
The water underneath would be a safe landing.
Three.
People did this for fun.
Two.
She wasn’t going to die.
One.
Jump.
Her body left the diving board but it felt like her stomach was still standing firmly in place up there.
Those seconds it took to plummet through the air and splash into the water were the longest of her life. It felt like an eternity but eventually she was encompassed in water.
For a moment she panicked.
Water was everywhere.
It felt like it was crushing her.
Kicking with her legs and stroking firmly with her arms she made her way to the surface, and overwhelming relief washed through her when her head burst up above the surface.
As soon as she did a huge smile broke out, she’d done it. She’d faced her fear and done something that terrified her and it felt so good.
Her boyfriend splashed down into the water and droplets sprayed all over her. A moment later hands wrapped around her hips and she was boosted up out of the water.
“I’m so proud of you,” he said and kissed her breathless. “Marry me.”
Marry him?
They hadn’t talked marriage yet, they’d only been dating a month.
It dint matter though.
She knew. He was the other half of her heart. He was the missing piece of her should. He was the man she could see by her side as they weathered life’s trials. He was the man she wanted to grow old with.
He was hers.
He was the man she loved.
“Yes.”