Don't Think About Jumping
Don't Think About Jumping
“Do you think you should jump?”
No. I never thought about jumping. I wouldn’t have even known I was on the cliff if he hadn’t brought it up. And yet, give it another 60 seconds, and I’d be sailing down the side of this ledge. Maybe I’d hit a few rocks on the way, give a few bounces for good measure. By the end, it wouldn’t matter anyway.
“Let’s not think about jumping,” I told him. I grabbed his hand. “Everyone below is already thinking about that.”
He smiled.
But what else was there to think about? We could think about the weather. It was nice, a little chilly, but then again we were at a pretty high altitude. We could think about our families, and how we’d hope they’d be proud of us, if they could see us now. If they only knew what we were doing now.
We could think about the mess we were in. Not the one here, on the edge of a mountain, but the one everyone was in- us, the people below, the people still asleep, the government officials evacuating the wrong building.
“Do you think they know?” he asked me, swallowing after his sentence, making a slight choking sound.
“No. No one knows. We don’t even know,” I assured him. And it was true- we hadn’t been told what building had the bomb either. Just the one to make the threat to.
“I don’t want to think about that either. Let’s think about something happy. Before the war. Before the government,” I said, and he turned suddenly.
“Before any government?”
“Before this government.”
He looked down and shut his eyes.
“Do you remember the old house with Mom and Dad? The one with the creek in the back and the-“
“The snakes under the bridge,” I finished for him. “Yes. Yes, I remember,” and I too closed my eyes.
If only for a moment we could think of these times. Before we joined the Uprising. Before we
gave ourselves away to be remembered when one of the tall white buildings on the horizon blew sky high. They’d come looking for us anyway. It was only logical to die. We would tell them nothing.
As soon as the ground shook, then it would be time to think about jumping. But for now, we could think about snakes and creeks. About happiness and our freedom.
No. I never thought about jumping. I wouldn’t have even known I was on the cliff if he hadn’t brought it up. And yet, give it another 60 seconds, and I’d be sailing down the side of this ledge. Maybe I’d hit a few rocks on the way, give a few bounces for good measure. By the end, it wouldn’t matter anyway.
“Let’s not think about jumping,” I told him. I grabbed his hand. “Everyone below is already thinking about that.”
He smiled.
But what else was there to think about? We could think about the weather. It was nice, a little chilly, but then again we were at a pretty high altitude. We could think about our families, and how we’d hope they’d be proud of us, if they could see us now. If they only knew what we were doing now.
We could think about the mess we were in. Not the one here, on the edge of a mountain, but the one everyone was in- us, the people below, the people still asleep, the government officials evacuating the wrong building.
“Do you think they know?” he asked me, swallowing after his sentence, making a slight choking sound.
“No. No one knows. We don’t even know,” I assured him. And it was true- we hadn’t been told what building had the bomb either. Just the one to make the threat to.
“I don’t want to think about that either. Let’s think about something happy. Before the war. Before the government,” I said, and he turned suddenly.
“Before any government?”
“Before this government.”
He looked down and shut his eyes.
“Do you remember the old house with Mom and Dad? The one with the creek in the back and the-“
“The snakes under the bridge,” I finished for him. “Yes. Yes, I remember,” and I too closed my eyes.
If only for a moment we could think of these times. Before we joined the Uprising. Before we
gave ourselves away to be remembered when one of the tall white buildings on the horizon blew sky high. They’d come looking for us anyway. It was only logical to die. We would tell them nothing.
As soon as the ground shook, then it would be time to think about jumping. But for now, we could think about snakes and creeks. About happiness and our freedom.