The Story Spark for this piece was – Fall Vibes. Instead of going in the direction of Autumn, which is where the prompts seemed to direct the group. I chose to fall into another direction.
The Fall
I’m falling.
Not the falling that happens every now and then, because the sticky rubber on the bottom of my shoes catches on the wooden floors in our house.
Not the kind of emotional falling, like falling in love, or falling in a fit of despair.
Not the falling that happens between people, when you fall out of favor with someone.
Not the kind of falling that comes from being duped by someone trying to trick you, or falling for a joke or prank.
I am literally falling. Think of Alice in Wonderland falling down a hole in the ground, and you can picture what I’m doing.
How did I get here? That’s a good question, since I’m not quite sure myself. I’ve often had dreams about flying, but never falling. And this is too real to be a dream.
I don’t see the bottom of where I’m falling to, and when I look up, all I see is blue skies with great white puffy clouds.
What’s interesting is I know I’m falling as I can feel the air whoosh by me; however, the distance to wherever I’m falling and the clouds in the sky don’t change their perspective. They appear to be standing still. Could that mean that they are falling at the same rate as I am?
Since I can’t see my intended doom rising up to meet me, I have time to ponder all these thoughts.
Well, if I were falling to my death, what thoughts should I be reliving? Certainly, the happy ones. The people I love, the places I’ve been to, the sights, sounds, and smells of my life?
I certainly don’t want to waste time on the bad things and poor choices that I have made throughout my life.
I’m waiting for the slide show of events to appear before my eyes, which I understand is the norm before one passes on.
But should I waste time on all that pondering if, in fact, I am not falling to my death?
In that case, should I be opening myself up to new possibilities? More stories to write and tell. More adventures to go on.
Quite a dilemma.
I think I’ll close my eyes and wait. Everything I’ve done, I’ve done. What is to be will be. I’ve become calm and accepting.
All of a sudden, there is a sudden silence. The wind stops. The motion feels non-existent. A voice is heard.
“Mr. Heilbrun, you have completed your treatment. The psychoneuralizer has been successful. You are free to go.”
I find myself in a room. I am sitting in a chair. I recall volunteering for this innovative stress treatment. I’m not sure exactly what they did to me or how I got into this chair. But I definitely feel better than I have been for days.
“Thank you for helping us improve this device before we go public. We would appreciate it if you would take the time to fill out a simple survey as you leave.”
It’s hard to fill out a survey when you are not quite sure what you actually did. Of course, I knew that if I filled out the survey, I would get a never-ending stream of emails and advertisements from them, and I wasn’t about to fall for that now that I’m stress free.
