Free and completely unfettered, she was an eagle aloft in the heavens. From her perch above the earth she could breath in the majesty of the world. The ground seemed so far away, and yet only by viewing it from afar could she grasp its enormity and beauty. She felt insignificant gazing upon the vastness of the world below, a tiny bug on the pond. And yet somehow it was the world that seemed to be the fragile one.
All of a sudden she felt an enormous pressure in her groin. Did eagles get wedgies? It subsided as her legs swung down below her and the roar faded into the background. She looked up to see a parachute silhouetted against the bright afternoon sun. She saw her pale white hands reach up instinctively to grab the lines. Why are my hands so pale?
“You okay there?” The voice, a man’s voice, came from behind her shoulder.
“Step on my feet,” the man continued. “That way you can prop yourself up and adjust the harness a bit.”
Flora looked down and saw another pair of feet below her’s. There was a man strapped to her back. Or maybe she was strapped to his front. She carefully placed her feet on top of his. The pressure on her groin subsided, and she sighed with relief.
“Okay Jane, now sit back a little bit so that the harness is lifting you by your upper thighs and not your groin,” the man explained.
She reached down with her soft delicate hands and pushed on her harness until she slid into place. The fabric felt surprisingly rough on her skin. “Thanks Paul,” she heard herself say, her voice oddly heavy. “That’s much better.”
“You settled?” Paul asked. “Now let’s have some fun. You see when I pull on this right toggle, the parachute will flare on the right side. This makes us turn to the right like this.” Flora felt her legs swing out to the left as they banked into a gentle right turn. “If I pull on the left toggle...” Paul continued. Flora gasped as her shoulders pulled harshly to the side, leaving her legs and stomach behind.
She heard a slight chuckle behind her right ear. “You okay there Jane?”
Flora didn’t feel okay, but she heard herself say between clenched teeth, “Just fine. Give me a try.”
Jane reached up and grabbed the toggles with her hands. Paul placed his hands on top of hers which felt very...comforting. She pulled the right one, then the left one. Then she pulled the right one again, and the left one again. “Hey, this is fun,” she exclaimed and then pulled really hard on the right. The turn made her legs swing out almost to horizontal as they spiraled around. Then they abruptly stopped and swung out the other way as she yanked hard on the left toggle.
“Wow, what happened to the fear, girl? You’re a thrill junkie now,” Paul said.
Jane smiled, and Flora realized she felt great. I’m Jane. The ground had grown closer, and she could now see the office where she had signed the waiver for this jump. She could even see two small figures walking out of the front door. They paused, looked up and waved cheerfully. She waved back.
“How do I land this thing?” she asked, turning her head back towards Paul.
“This thing?” Paul asked incredulously. “We need to brush up on your skydiving terminology. Now how we are going to land is very simple. When we get close enough, I’ll just unhook you, and you’ll drop onto the grass. I’ll handle the rest.”
“What?” Jane said. “Oh wait, why don’t you leave me the parachute, and you can get off right here?” The ground was getting closer still.
“Sorry, I can’t do that. I’m responsible for the equipment. Here, let me unhook you now. You look pretty tough,” he said as he started yanking on her straps. The ground looked to be just a hundred feet away, and they were getting closer fast.
“Sure, I don’t need those straps. I’ll just grab onto your balls. You don’t really need those,” she retorted. Forty feet now.
“Wow. Feisty,” he said. “You’re really...Legs up. Legs up.” he yelled.
Paul reached over Jane’s hands and pulled hard on both toggles, causing the parachute to flare and shallow their descent. Jane pulled her legs up as they glided just inches over the grass. They slowed as the parachute lifted them up slightly, and then they were standing on the ground. Or rather, Paul was standing on the ground. Jane was still strapped to Paul’s chest with her legs lifted up into the air.
“You can lower your legs now,” Paul suggested. “It’ll make the walk back to the office easier.”
“For you maybe,” Jane shot back. “I thought this was full service. I was looking forward to being carried back.” Jane unlatched her two leg clips and then her two shoulder clips, dropping down onto her feet. “Maybe you need help with the parachute too,” she said tauntingly.
“I got it,” Paul replied. “I’ll meet you back at the office.
************
“I’m not sure about this.” Jane’s hands were sweating profusely, and it wasn’t from the hot Thai weather as it was much cooler in the shaded forest. “Are we there yet?” Jane asked.
“It’s just on the other side of the gorge,” Paul insisted, a warm smile on his face.
Jane’s heart quickened as she looked down at the hundred foot drop in front of her. Her fingers wrapped tightly around the carabiner that Paul had just hooked onto the pulley which in turn was attached to a steel cable that ran across the gorge into the grove on the other side. Sure, the carabiner was tied to a harness she wore, but that didn’t stop her from trying to hold her own weight with her arms.
Paul fished a pendant out from beneath his shirt and touched it to his lips. “Ready to go?”
“Wait, what’s that you got there?” Jane asked. Maybe she wasn’t quite ready.
“It’s just a good luck charm,” Paul said. “Now stop stalling.”
“Where’d you get it?” she asked.
“It’s from my brother. Now, you really need to jump now,” Paul said.
“I’m not so sure I really need to,” Jane said, her legs frozen in place.
“True,” he replied.
Suddenly Jane was airborne, the forest zooming below her like the walls of a subway tunnel. Then she was traveling backwards,. her harness twisted around so that she could see Paul back on the platform, head raised in laughter. The bastard had kicked her off the platform. He pointed past her and yelled something, but she couldn’t make out the words. She turned just in time to see the lower platform coming at her fast. She managed to get her legs up just in time to make a clumsy landing. Paul was right behind her.
“I can’t believe that was harder than jumping out of a plane,” Paul commented as he unhooked her from the zip line.
“Well, I didn’t jump from the plane either. You did,” she said, punching him in the shoulder. “I just happened to be strapped to your chest.”
“Ow,” he said, feigning pain. “I think you broke something. You’re gonna have to fix it up now. Hippocratic oath or whatever.”
“I’m not that kind of doctor,” she said. “A phD in botany does not come with any requirements to fix up crybaby skydiving instructors.”
“Well I’m glad it did come with a celebratory trip to Pattaya, or else this crybaby would be stuck working instead of demonstrating our local hospitality.” He grinned. “You never told me what made you choose Pattaya for your post-graduation adventure.”
“Why, I came here to pick up skydiving instructors of course. It was recommended by Lonely Planet,” Jane said wryly.
“First of all, I picked you up,” corrected Paul, “and seriously, we don’t get that many Americans out here. Most of them head directly to the beaches.” Jane watched Paul’s muscular body sway with his steps as he led the way across a rope bridge. He was dark-skinned, but a little too light to be Thai, and his English was impeccable. She loved his smile. It was so big and yet so honest, automatically dispelling any tension she carried and leaving behind just...her.
“Well, as a matter of fact, I do plan on going to the beaches,” Jane said, crossing slowly after him. “But first I really wanted to try skydiving
.”
“Thrill seeker?” asked Paul, arching his eyebrow as if he didn’t believe it. Jane understood his confusion. She certainly didn’t look like a thrill seeker. She had delicate features and a slim body, looking almost frail due to her alabaster skin. On top of that, she had almost chickened out this morning when she signed up for the jump.
“More like Earth seeker,” said Jane. “You see, I wanted to really get a good look at the Earth. Sure, we see the Earth every day. We stand on it. We sleep on it. But to understand its majesty, to really see it, you need to take a step back. My legs weren’t long enough, so I signed up for skydiving.”
She paused, and then asked, “How about you? How does one become a skydiving instructor in Thailand?”
“Oh, it wasn’t too hard,” Paul said leaning back in his chair. “About a year ago, I was slumming around in Bangkok when I met a skydiving instructor in a bar. After we got nice and drunk, and possibly did some other stuff that I can’t quite remember, we became best friends. It turned out that they needed someone who could speak both Thai and English well. I had nothing better to do, so I came out to Pattaya where they trained me to be an instructor in exchange for room and board.”
“Wait, you’ve only been skydiving for a year?” interrupted Jane. “You don’t tell people that when they sign up.”
“Oh come on, how hard is it to fall out of a plane?” he retorted. “You just need to know which way is down.”
“Well, at least you seem to know your way around this forest,” she added, walking beside him now.
“Actually, I’ve never been here,” he said. “I’m following you.” She hit him for that. “You know all about nature, right?” he continued. “You could find your way out if we got lost.”
“Of course,” she lied. “But I’d tie you to a tree first as a sacrifice to the forest gods. And then. Whoa.” Jane had never seen something so magnificent. From the floor of the forest, the tree that stood in front of her looked taller than any skyscraper in New York.
“We call him Boran,” he whispered reverently. “It means Ancient in Thai.”
They were still a hundred feet from the base, but even from here she couldn’t see the top. The trunk just kept rising up into the sky, branches occasionally protruding from the center, until all she could see was a vast network of branches and leaves. “You know, this tree is a whole ecosystem in itself,” she whispered, unwilling to break the magic of the space by speaking in full tones.
“It is?” he asked.
“Yes, the upper crown,” she said, pointing almost straight up, “which we can’t even see from here, supports a variety of orchids, vines and ferns that give up the soil in return for unblocked access to sunlight. The honeybees, which are critical for the cross pollination of most of the forest, live in the lower canopy which we can just barely see. Everything up in the tree eventually dies, littering the floor with leaves. This feeds all the insects and fungi which live on the ground floor.” She smiled. “And that decomposition releases nutrients into the soil which then feeds the tree itself. It’s a win-win for everyone.”
“Wow,” Paul said. “I thought I was supposed to be giving the local tour here.”
“Sorry for stealing your chance to impress me. I’ve just always been fascinated by how ecosystems work.” Jane looked down at her empty palms. “I remember when I was six, my mom gave me a little sealed globe, an ecosphere.” She could see the glass globe in her mind, feel its weight in her palms. “The globe was filled with water and had some tiny shrimp and plants inside of it. I marveled at how they stayed alive, totally shut out from the rest of the world. They were in a perfect balance that was surprising and yet perfectly obvious.”
She looked back up at the tree. “This tree is an ecosphere too. The entire world is.”
They walked up toward the base of the tree. She wanted to touch it. “Things aren’t always in balance though. A friend of mine also got a globe at about the same time. Hers died after less than a year, and yet mine is still going even now. I guess things are more fragile than they appear.”
They were interrupted by a loud, painful cry in the distance. “What’s that?” she asked.
“No idea,” he said, a look of concern clouding his face. “It’s coming from the brush over there. We better go take a look.”
As they hiked closer, the sound of arguing voices filled the air. From behind the bushes, Jane peeked into the clearing. Four dust-covered men wearing grimaces on their faces and machetes on their belts were having a heated discussion in Thai. One of them pointed at an empty cage angrily and then kicked it, sending it skittering into the brush. Then all four of them ran off into the forest, presumably to search for whatever should have been in the cage.
“Gibbons,” Paul whispered, pointing towards a half dozen identical cages piled into the back of a pickup truck twenty feet to the right. Jane looked at the black and white monkeys with sadness. One of the prisoners turned its furry little face towards her and cocked its head to the side quizzically.
“What are they going to do with them?” she asked.
“The trappers will probably sell them to a zoo or some tourist destination,” Paul replied. “Maybe they’ll become panhandlers or pets in Bangkok. We better get out of here though. These guys don’t look too friendly, and we don’t want to get involved.”
“But this has to be illegal,” Jane said. “Is there some local police that we can report them to?”
“No one here but who you see,” Paul replied. “I don’t think they’ll hurt the gibbons,” he added after seeing the distress on her face.
“But it’ll hurt the forest,” Jane said. “The gibbons play an important role in spreading the seeds for the trees. The removal of any one piece can upset the whole balance of the ecosystem. Can’t we stop them?”
“It’s none of our business,” Paul said. “Let’s go.”
Jane knew he was right. It wasn’t their business. She was on vacation, just a visitor here, and yet. “I’ve always said that I want to save the world,” she said, running out into the clearing. “This is a good place to start.”
“Jane!” Paul whispered loudly. “The locals don’t like foreigners interfering with their lives. They can get violent.” She ignored him and started working on freeing the gibbons. Her fingers fumbled at the latch of the first cage for what seemed like an eternity before she realized that there was a rudimentary lock on the front. Crap. Her heart beat frantically as she glanced around for the key. She had no time. She grabbed a rock half the size of her head and smashed it against the lock like a caveman trying to beat open a coconut. The gibbon screamed wildly.
“Shut up,” she whispered through gritted teeth. “I’m trying to help, you stupid ape.” She certainly hoped his captors wouldn’t return soon. She tried again and again, scraping her hands as she clumsily wailed against the lock. Then finally, the lock sprung open and the gibbon sprinted out of the cage and into the forest.
“You’re welcome,” she called out, but the gibbon was already gone. Well, she couldn’t expect monkeys to have any manners.
“I think I hear them returning,” Paul called out.
“Then you better help me get these cages open faster,” she called back. After a slight hesitation, Paul grabbed a rock and joined her. They quickly pried open the other five cages. Just as the last gibbon ran for cover, they heard shouts in the distance.
“Run!” Paul cried.
Without any thought to where she was going, she ran. Branches whizzed by her head. Rocks and roots flew under her feet. And still she ran, faster than ever before. Somewhere along the line, she felt like she was no longer running away but instead, running towards something greater.
“Are you okay?” Paul called out as they ran.
Jane’s lungs were on fire. Her muscles were seconds from cramping, while a sharp pain ate into her side with every stride she took. Her legs were soaked with sweat mixed with blood from tiny scrapes all over her body.
“I feel great,” she replied. “I feel great.”
************
Three weeks had passed since she met Paul in Pattaya. They rode elephants and trekked to waterfalls near Chiang Mai. They explored ancient cities in the Golden Triangle and zip lined through lush jungles. They ventured into the ocean to marvel at the abundant sea life at the coral reefs near Koh Tao. And as promised, they were now lying on a beach in Phuket. Everything was perfect, but she knew that would all end today.
She glanced over to where Paul sat, staring out over the water. There was something about being around him that made Jane content. When she was with him, she felt relaxed and somehow empowered. Skydiving, zip lining, and saving monkeys were all just the tip of the iceberg. With him around, she could accomplish anything. Paul was calm, kind, and playful. He was completely laid back, and yet there was an edge to him that challenged her, made her strive to live harder. How could someone with so much drive have such little ambition?
“It’s so gorgeous here,” she remarked.
“I know,” he said, making a point to stare at her body. “And the scenery is kinda pretty too,” he joked.
“Ha ha,” she said. “That’s gotta be the corniest compliment ever.” But she still smiled. “You know, today’s Christmas.”
“I never really celebrated Christmas,” Paul replied. “It was seen as a Western thing when I was young.” He turned towards her. “In other words, I didn’t get you anything.”
“Yeah, I figured you were a cheapskate,” she said. “But it just seems so odd that I’m sitting here on a beach in 80 degree weather on Christmas. When I was a little girl in Michigan, Christmas was all about playing in the snow, drinking hot chocolate, and staying warm by the fire. Oh, and about presents.” She smiled. “I never imagined that there was a whole world out here without snow and without Christmas. And even though I love Christmas, I’m totally fine not having it. Lying here feels like I’m separate from time. There’s no winter, no fall, and no spring. There’s just this moment in time. And it’s perfect.” Then she frowned. “But nothing really lasts forever.”