Ziplining
Our black rental car pulled into the zipline park driveway. Me, my mom, my aunt, my uncle and my two cousins hopped out of the car onto the driveway. We were clueless that the 50 foot Tarzan jump awaited us.
“Are you excited?” I asked my cousin Bonnie.
“Ya, are you?” she questioned.
“Ya, because I’ve gone ziplining before,” I replied, but I felt a small knot tightening in my chest. The six of us marched to the place where we would put on our gear. We pulled on heavy leather straps and harnesses, and about a minute later all of us were hiking up a steep, rocky, dirt road lined with magnolia trees. Abruptly, we came to a halt and I nearly walked into my cousin Bonnie.
“Watch it,” she retorted.
“Sorry,” I mumbled.
Our guide explained how to brake, slow down and speed up.
“It’s simple. All you have to do to stop is push hard on the wire holding you up, and to slow down put your hand on the wire that is holding you up. To speed up, hover your hand on the wire. Easy enough, right?”
We all mumbled a word of, “yes.” One after the other we pushed off the cliff. Our guide looked at us as if we were like children scared of the dark. One after another he gave us a little push and we zoomed into a speck in the distance, our number growing fewer with each prod. Finally, it was my turn. The man hoisted me up, attaching me securely to a thick wire with a light prod on the back. I zoomed, the magnolia trees around me green blurs out of focus. I came speeding toward a metal platform attached to a tree. Using all my strength, I pushed down on the wire holding me up. I slowed and came to a stop as the jungle around me became sharp and clear. My feet hit the metal floor. It wobbled and held steady. A man hooked me to a wire revolving around the tree to stop me from tumbling forward. My second ride was better. The wind slapped at my face like AC. Again, my feet hit the platform. After my third ride our guide explained that this part usually cost an extra $20, but today they were feeling good so we would get it for free. I wondered what this was.
“Who’s first,” questioned our guide.
My aunt pointed at my uncle.
“Okay,” he replied, “Wait, what am I doing?”
“Just go with it,” she answered as he got strapped into a harness. Woosh, he plummeted toward the messy ground at least 50 feet down. How could he survive that fall, I questioned myself. For a split second I believed him dead until he soared up like a bird, swinging back and forth each time closer to a platform on the ground until he swooped and landed.
“Who’s next?” our guide asked. Trembling, I rose my hand as my insides writhed like snakes ready for the kill, but when he strapped me into the harness, I didn’t seem to have insides at all.
“1, 2, 3,” I jumped, my stomach seemed to fall to my feet, the jungle around me an emerald swirl. The wind roared and slapped at my face. As I dropped back down and swooped back up again, I flew and reached with my foot toward the platform. My foot was on the metal. I slipped. Sweeping back down, I glided back up. My feet hit the platform. A man pulled me up, the jungle came into focus, hopping down the steps two at a time, I watched my cousin Bonnie jump, screaming in horror. Bonnie dived, pulling up her feet as they slammed into the platform. Clara next, then my aunt, then my mom.
“Ow,” Bonnie exclaimed in shock.
“Ouch, me too” my aunt replied.
What were they on about? I wondered. Then I spotted ants, snapping their teeth menacingly as they crowded around their two pairs of feet. They wiggled their feet to shake the ants off, then started the downhill path. Flowers swayed with the wind and bloomed invitingly.
“Look,” my cousin Bonnie gasped, “it’s a monkey.”
I squinted to the distance toward the blazing sun. Sure enough, a furry silhouette with the shape and size of a monkey sat crouched motionless on a tree branch.
“Oh cool,” I said enthusiastically. We marched down towards the parking lot discussing the thrills of ziplining happily. Last we got to the driveway and slammed the car door behind us.
This was the second time ziplining and I’m ready for a third.
