4. Surprise!
“Life begins at the end of your comfort zone.”– Neale Donald Walsch
“You’ve got to be kidding?”My mouth gaping, I stood rooted to the ground as Ryan tried without success to usher me towards the Ben’s Bungy Jumping sign. What did he expect me to say, ‘Oh yippee, just what I’ve always wanted’?
“I’ve booked us both in for a jump. It’s gonna be awesome!”
“You can’t be serious? There’s no way I’m letting someone tie rope to my feet and throw me off that thing!” I pinned him with a determined stare.
“Mum, remember at your birthday dinner last year you said you wanted to do something adventurous for your next birthday?” Ryan enquired. “Something different, to feel alive again.”
I shook my head.
“Oh, that’s right… sudden memory loss and all that.” He dropped his head and looked back up a moment later. “Well, you did say it and I listened, and I’ve had this planned for ages, and it’s non-refundable so you can’t back out. Mum – you’ll thank me for this, it’s going to be something you’ll never forget.” He clamped his hands together as though in prayer.
“Never forget? This is the thing I’d want to forget! I can’t do this. Besides, I’m… fifty,” I stuttered, still in shock of my situation. “Surely they wouldn’t let seniors like me go bungy jumping?” I planted my hands defiantly on my hips and jutted out my jaw.
“Of course they do. It’s perfectly safe and you’ve been given a clean bill of health by the doc, so there’s no reason you can’t do it. They even jump people who are in wheelchairs, you know.”
Yeah. Probably adrenalin addicts who were in wheelchairs because of bungy jumping. I’d rather have William’s third present than go through this.
“What if the rope breaks? They could forget to tie it on properly and only realise once I’ve plunged to my death!” Hmm, on second thoughts… at least then I wouldn’t have to put up with this awful day anymore.
No, I couldn’t think like that. Pull yourself together, Kelli!
“They won’t forget. I know Ben, he’s a professional,” Ryan assured me.
Professional what? Professional idiot?
I looked at the huge purpose-built structure, completely out of place in the lush natural rainforest and imagined myself launching off the edge to hang precariously above the water. I shuddered as I envisioned all my saggy bits sagging upside down, my loose turkey-neck skin falling over my face, covering my mouth and nose and cutting off my air supply. This could be fatal in more ways than one.
“I can’t do it… I’m not dressed for it!” I looked down at my curved hems, which would curve all the way over my head if I was hung upside down. “Look, I can’t bungy jump in this outfit.”
Ryan simply smiled, zipped open his backpack and pulled out a pair of pants and a singlet.
“You brought a change of clothes for me?”
He nodded. “I grabbed them before we drove to the doctors. I didn’t want to say anything about what you were wearing in case you got suspicious.” Ryan stepped in close and looked me in the eye. “I’ve bungy jumped four times already, it’s exhilarating! You can do this, Mum. It might be just what you need.”
Could he be right? Could this be some sort of challenge I have to go through to get back to my twenty-five-year-old self? Maybe it would shock me back to my real life. Hmmm, if I didn’t do it I could be stuck in this terrible life forever. But if I did it, there’s a chance it’d create another cosmic shift thingy and transport me back where I belong.
I alternated my weight from one foot to the other and Ryan continued to encourage me with his determined eyes. What was it the doctor had said? Try to enjoy your day. Make the most of it – have some fun, do something different! Aha! He could be in on this whole charade and that might have been a subtle way of telling me how to fix it, without saying: ‘Mrs McSnelly, I’d like to prescribe a treatment of bungy jumping. Go jump off a ledge and call me in the morning.’
“Okay,” I mumbled, eyes on the ground, barely believing what I’d just agreed to.
Ryan planted his hands on my arms. “So you’ll do it?” His eyes widened and his breath quickened.
“Quick, before I change my mind.” I walked towards the towering monstrosity and Ryan followed like a puppy anticipating a game of fetch.
“Yes! I knew you’d come round. You won’t regret it, Mum.”
My legs became weak and I was sure a rock star drummer was inside my chest, banging on the wall of my heart. But I forced the vision of my young self, lazing in bed in my own apartment to the front of my mind. Soon, with any luck, it would no longer be a vision but a reality.