Jump-Short Story

It’s been a while, but I’m back! I managed to write a few short stories this week, so I thought I’d share one of them with all of you! Happy reading! 

***

It was pretty cool, but R wasn’t going to spend all day gawking at it from an overlook, that was final. Really, it’d only been cool for the first few minutes before it got boring. She wasn’t sure if it had really been worth the long drive to get there.

The sloping rocks led into deep crevices in the earth. Colors of red, blue, and purple coated the whole thing like fresh paint. Down below, birds swooped in the gentle wind, their black bodies like shadows against the colorful rocks. 

Every person who saw it let out a gasp of delight before taking a thousand pictures, just like someone R knew. 

She glanced at Ava, who stood at the railing taking about a million selfies with the view. 

Other people silently observed the whole thing , such as Luke, who she was pretty sure was still sitting on a rock somewhere away from the overlook. 

Still others would spend hours talking about it. Which had to be the worst option of them all. She turned to stare at her brother. Elias was busy talking to an important looking person, his expression more excited than R had seen it in a while. Even more excited than the time he’d beaten her when they’d raced to the center of Regnum City. 

R was just ready to leave already. The sun was unmerciful, she was hungry, and people kept bumping into her so much, she was about ready to shove them to the edge of the canyon.

The edge. 

R glanced at the railing a few steps away from her. A smirk slowly came over her face. There was one way she could make this a whole lot more exciting for everyone. 

Giving Elias another quick look to make sure he wasn’t watching, she made her way to the railing. Nobody was really paying her any attention, unless you counted the raven staring at her, which she didn’t. 

The smirk grew as she wedged her foot onto the metal bar and moved her body up. One more push and she sat at the top of the railing. 

Tipping her head to the side, she looked down. The drop was horrendous. Made for a great view, but if anyone were to fall, there was no surviving it. 

Well, that’s what most people thought. 

R ran her hands along the cool metal and took a deep breath. She raised her head again, a full-on smirk taking over her face. 

Then Elias noticed her. His face was full of warning as he watched her. “R ATARA, DON’T YOU-”

R didn’t wait to hear the end of his sentence. Practically everyone on the overlook was watching her with wide eyes. She pulled her feet up, then jumped. 

The screams made it all worth it. As she fell, she heard collective screams, yelling, and gasps from the overlook. Along with Elias yelling her name into the wind. 

The air rushed around R as she fell, the rock rising up all around her. Her pink hair blew into her face, blinding her as it covered her eyes like a curtain. She spread her arms and arched her back, allowing the wind to cover her in cool air. 

The ground rose up below her, getting closer by the second. As it got still closer, she straightened. The air around her shimmered as a pair of pink wings appeared in the sky around her. 

Flexing the wings once, R spread them. Immediately, she jerked to a sharp stop mid-air and sucked in a deep breath. The ground was still a ways below her and everywhere she saw sharp walls of rock rising around her. 

She paused for a moment, looking around. It really was beautiful there. The red rocks had twists of white lacing through it along with the green scattered through all of it. The height itself was amazing. Way more than she had expected it to be from above. 

It was majestic. 

R tilted her head to look back up towards the overlook. It was such a small area on the cliff above. 

But it was best not to leave the people waiting. 

Flapping her wings, she pushed herself higher in the sky at full speed. It felt good to stretch her wings a little bit. 

The rock walls flew past her, followed by the occasional sheep…or was it a goat? She didn’t know. The edge got closer and closer with every push and soon she could see heads of some brave people peering over the edge. 

She chuckled darkly under her breath. Oh this was gonna be good. She was about to give them the surprise of their lives. 

Slowing her pace a little bit, she moved closer to the rock wall. Then she picked up her speed again. 

R shot up from the edge, stopping right at the railing. Everyone immediately backed away. Everyone’s eyes were as round as doughnuts and a few people fell over. Still some looked as pale as death itself. 

She pressed her lips into a smirk to keep herself from bursting out laughing. Her eyes searched the crowd until she found Elias, who was standing still and glaring at her with his arms crossed. 

She gave a small shrug. “What?” 

Ava was doubled over on the ground in laughter, tears streaming out of her eyes as she held up her phone, probably videoing the whole thing. 

R could see Luke standing over at the edge of the crowd, looking almost as surprised as everyone else. 

“I’m gonna kill you,” Elias growled, full on older-brother coming out in one expression. 

R grinned. “Worth it.” 

***

Until next time, 

Aliya Gerow