The Sauna Part 287

Jon and I woke, fully refreshed, and anxious to begin our adventure. We hopped in the shower and made love again, causing only a slight delay in our plans, and when we arrived in the lobby we found Richie and Eva, Dave and Elena eagerly waiting.

“Thought maybe you chickened out, my man” Richie greeted us with a smile.

“Just got a little side-tracked this morning” Jon replied with a nudge.

“Shit! You two are like rabbits, man! You kept me up half the night as it was!” Richie scowled with affection.

“Okay, people, listen up!” Elena announced, checking her watch. “We need to get down to the heliport right this minute. Let’s move!” she commanded and we filed out obediently behind her.

When we arrived at the designated location we disembarked from the helicopter and we were greeted by a team of four guides. Each pair would have their own “chaperone” and one would remain on the ground to coordinate pick-ups after we landed. There was nothing casual about this operation and these guys were clearly professionals. Despite Dave and Elena’s assurances last night, we realized the inherent dangers that were possible on our journey after the team gave us a thorough safety briefing.

“Okay, are their any questions? Anybody wanna back out before we begin?” the tall man who was quite clearly the “captain” wanted to know.

We all shook our heads and began suiting up and after a final inspection by our respective chaperones to make sure our parachutes were properly attached and in good order, we were ready for take off. Dave and Elena were first in line and I felt my mouth go suddenly dry as I watched them leap off the ledge, hand in hand. The primary danger was getting too close to the face of the cliff as a collision with granite at that speed could be fatal.

I swallowed hard as I watched them fall downwards and I gasped as I saw them spread their arms and catch the current. Shit! They were flying! Really and truly flying! My fear gave way to excitement and I shifted from one foot to the other, nervous with anticipation.

“Okay, who’s next?” our “captain” asked in a loud voice.

“We are!” I heard myself say and Jon started at my side.

“Okay, you heard the lady” he said with a deep breath.

I hugged Richie and Eva and took my place on the ledge, squeezing Jon’s hand harder than necessary. He turned and kissed me and squeezed my hand back.

“Let’s fly, baby!” he grinned and we jumped.

My stomach tensed and for a moment I was afraid I’d throw up as I felt myself falling, falling, falling… I was dimly aware of our chaperone shouting something, but I couldn’t hear what he said and my mind was spinning. I felt Jon’s grip on me tighten as he raised our arms in the air and I opened my eyes and looked out. Goddess, I’m flying! Oh my God, we’re flying! I looked over at Jon at my side and he was grinning like an idiot. We really were flying through the air just like the birds!

I felt the moment we caught the current, but I was too overwhelmed to remember anything I’d been told about what to do. Jon was similarly caught off guard, but he recovered quicker than me and he angled his head and his body so we caught the updraft and flew higher. It was just like I’d imagined in dreams I’d had as a child as we soared through the sky on our “wings”. I couldn’t begin to describe the feelings I had; there was a mixture of exhilaration, fear and freedom as we coasted along on the wind, surveying the rich greens and blues of the landscape.

Maybe it was a touch of hysteria, but I started to laugh and I just couldn’t stop smiling. I squeezed Jon’s hand and he squeezed mine in response as our eyes met and held. We’d had inumerable memorable moments, but nothing like this. It was truly remarkable and amazing! There were times when we seemed almost to be ‘standing still’, frozen for a moment in mid air, and then suddenly we were caught on a gust of wind and we’d begin to pick up speed. It was the most thrilling experience of my life and I was never so glad to be holding Jon’s hand as I was at that moment.

We were in the air for only thirty-five minutes, we later learned, but at the time it felt like a lifetime had passed. I saw only a fraction, if not less, of the country we’d seen from the helicopter and yet I felt like I knew it better. From our vantage point, high off the ground, but not nearly as high as we’d been in the aircraft, we could see details we’d have otherwise missed. I saw birds flying beside us and I could hear the rushing sound of a waterfall we flew near pitted against the silence of the skies. My senses were on hyper alert and I felt more alive than I could’ve dreamed.

When we finally began to start sinking closer back down to the earth, our chaperone yelled “pull the cord” and I heard him this time. Jon and I exchanged glances and nods, knowing our flight was ending, and we pulled our cords together as one. I felt a quick tug as the chutes opened up and we were briefly suspended in the air before gliding downward. We were jolted back to reality when our feet hit the ground, suddenly hard and unyielding after our weightless experience. We stumbled and fell, with me landing almost directly on top of Jon, but aside from a few bumps and bruises we were essentially all in one piece.

Our chaperone landed a few yards away and scrambled over to help us as we’d become entangled in our chutes and the cords. We must have been quite a site as we struggled to get out from under the canvas and our chaperone laughed as he lifted an edge and we crawled out on our hands and knees.

“Landing comes as a bit of a shock, eh? It gets better with practice” he smiled.

“Not exactly my most graceful move, I admit” I giggled, brushing away the stones and leaves that clung to my suit as I tried to sit up.

“You okay, darlin’? Here, take my hand” Jon grinned, finding his “land legs” a moment before me.

“So, what did you think? Are you glad you did it?” the chaperone asked.

“Hell, yeah!” Jon said enthusiastically and I shook my head in vigorous agreement.

“I’m gonna go ahead and call for a pick-up, but it’ll be probably an hour or more, so just go ahead and relax” he advised us.

“Baby, that was truly the wildest experience of my life! I’m so glad you were there!” Jon cried excitedly as he hugged me.

“I’d never have done anything like that without you. I knew I’d be safe as long as you were beside me” I breathed, feeling his strong arms tighten around me.

“Wait ’till we rub it in to the golfers” Jon said with a mischievous glint in his eye. “Hey, where’s the others end up? Are any of them nearby?” he wondered aloud.

“Apparently, the one group isn’t far-about two kilometers away. But that first group ended up quite a bit downstream-they’re over fifteen kliks away. If we start walking that way, and follow the stream, we should run into the other pair” the chaperone answered, pointing towards a little creek shimmering in the distance.

“Let’s go” Jon said and we hiked towards the stream.

After we’d walked for about twenty-five minutes, we heard voices and Jon shouted out.

“Richie? Man is that you?” he called.

“Eva? Where are you?” I called after him.

“Hey, bro, we’re over here” came Richie’s voice.

We followed the sound and soon found Richie and Eva resting alongside the stream with Eva rubbing her ankle. I sat down beside her and I could see it was tender. I gently removed her boot and her sock and I could already tell it was beginning to swell.

“Here, stick your foot in the stream. The cold water will bring down the swelling” I suggested. “Is it broken?” I asked, turning toward Richie.

“No, I don’t think so. I was able to walk on it, but I twisted it when we landed. Don’t tell Teek, okay? Promise?” she smiled sheepishly.

“Eva, when we get back, you should go get an x-ray just to make sure” I advised, a little concerned.

“I’ll never hear the end of it, Trish. Please, I promise, if it gets any worse, I’ll go to the hospital but I really don’t think it’s all that bad” she pleaded.

“She’s not in shock, just a bit sore. I think she just had a rough landing, but we can stop at the hospital on the way back to the lodge if you want” the other chaperone added, inspecting her ankle.

“No signs of bruising” he said to the other chaperone. “Let’s keep it in the water until the crew gets here and then we can decide” he suggested.

“Wasn’t that just the most amazing experience?” she bubbled, changing the subject.

“Yeah, that was awesome! We actually saw birds right alongside us” Richie piped up.

“So did we” Jon added and soon we were all chattering away about what we had witnessed and how it had felt.