The rain has finally stopped. As Hannah helps me with my harness, she turns to the stormy sky, smiles and says, “Lucky you. It’s a beautiful weather to skydive.” Indeed it is. Weights of grey clouds hang high in the sky of Pattaya, but the lustrous blue sky behind them are yearning to break through.
Joseph and I have to wait in the common area for the sky to clear up a little more before our turn is up. Nervous hands are rubbing, awkward small talks are exchanged, and an uncertain laughter is echoing in the corner. The air is slightly chilly, yet I can feel heat generated from nervousness emanating from within. People come in and out. Ultimately, we are left alone with this lady and the three of us nod unanimously in silence. “Hi, I’m Kelly,” she introduces herself.
She tells us about herself: a Taiwanese travelling in Thailand with a group of colleagues who are skeptic about her impromptu decision to jump because she is acrophobic. I can feel my eyebrows raise a little. “Yes, I am afraid of heights, but at times in life we have to do things involuntarily, so when I am finally able to make my own decision, I am going to do it despite my fear,” she tells us. I nod in agreement.
Hannah signals to us that it was our turn. It takes twenty minutes to reach the plane and in no time, Joseph and his tandem skydiving instructor are sitting beside Hannah and me at about 12,000 feet up in the air. The clouds are close at hand from the open door and before you know it, both of my legs are dangling on the edge of the door with Hannah strapped to my back. I lean my entire weight on her as we rock back and forth. She raised her fingers in my face, counting down from three to one.
After the first few seconds tumbling out of the plane, we are in our free-fall position in the middle of nowhere and that is when I stop my screaming, completely awed by my bird’s-eye view of the flat earth obscured by a thin layer of cloud mist. A wash of hills and peaks stop themselves abruptly at the endless horizon of the sea under the crisp blue sky. Despite the height, I can see the roofs of houses and buildings speckled themselves like salt and pepper on the olive greenery. I mouth to myself repeatedly, “Beautiful.”
Hannah releases the parachute and I can feel my heart drop. It was over in minutes and she asks if I want to touch the clouds, which was relatively nearer to the sea. There is no reason for rejection to that. I spread my arms out and feel the nip in the air whipping against my skin. This is it, this is why I am here: to thoroughly experience the choice I made.
As soon as we land, we head to the common area and Kelly is nowhere to be seen. A new tandem skydiver approaches us with eyes flickering with uneasiness and asks whether it was frightening. “Yes, it is. But a wise person once told me…” Before I can finish my sentence, I see Kelly waving and jogging toward us.
About the Author: Justine Wong is an amateur traveler and writer who is currently travelling around Asia.
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