Bucket List

The constant loud droning of the plane engine almost drowned out Jack’s voice. He was going through the whole procedure one more time before we jumped.

“Like usual, it’s easy! Jump out and enjoy the freefall at 120mph. When you see the altimeter hitting 3000 feet, pull the cord and release the parachute. If you don’t, the parachute will automatically open at 2500 feet. I don’t recommend that though. None of you are that experienced yet”

Jack was the most experienced one here, mainly because he was an adrenaline junkie. He would spend whatever free time he had on stuff like this. He was also my best friend… don’t ask me how that happened.

We all skydived many times before, but this time was a little different. After we went up, I convinced them to go out to sea and skydive there instead of the usual spot. From there, I planned to have my boat ready so that we would sail out and go to Hawaii.

Of course we weren’t really allowed to deviate from the flight plan, but the pilot didn’t mind having a few more dead presidents in his pocket, so that ceased to be a problem very quickly.

This was an experience I wanted to have with my friends at least once, and I’m not sure I would get another opportunity.

“Everyone, check each other’s chutes!” Jack shouted.

There were five of us, including Jack. Everyone had a set partner to do these safety checks with, and whoever is first free would check Jack’s parachute. In the meantime, Jack checked on the extra safety parachutes on the plane.

“You’re all good” my friend Simon gave me the all clear

“Thanks, Simon” I shouted back.

“No, thank YOU for this free trip to Hawaii” he said back while laughing.

“Don’t mention it. We all need a crazy adventure at least once in our-”

huh? Is that a feather?

It felt as if time itself stopped, because the feather was clear as day to me. It looked like it was hovering outside the window

“Simon, look at that,” but before Simon could turn around and see it, it was gone. “never mind. I thought I saw a…”

BOOM!

A loud explosion sounded and shook the whole plane. At the same time, it sounded like rain was hitting the plane from the front. Just constant droplets hitting the outside of the plane.

“WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED!” shouted Jack towards to the pilot, after he managed to steady himself.

“BIRD STRIKE! IT TOOK OUT ONE OF THE ENGINES!” the pilot shouted back, while constantly looking towards us and then back in front. Desperately pressing buttons and trying to stabilise the plane.

“WHAT!” Laurence shouted, panic stricken. He was always the paranoid one. “DID HE JUST SAY WE LOST AN ENGINE?!”

Everyone started stumbling around trying to sit back and put their seatbelts back on.

“DON’T WORRY, WE CAN GLIDE DOWN WITH ONE ENGINE. JUST STRAP UP” shouted the pilot.

Everyone managed to find a seat and put the seatbelt on safely. Panic and fear clear on their faces; Laurence was sweating so much that we could almost see it dripping on the floor. Laura, Simon’s girlfriend, held on to his arm tightly and buried her face there, and Simon had a deadpan face, as if contemplating his whole live.

“Looks like skydiving is out of the questions then, huh?” said Jack, while sitting beside me.

“IS THAT REALLY ALL YOU CARE ABOUT?” Jack is an adrenaline junkie, but even for him that’s low.

“Relax man. These things happen all the time. Victor is a great pilot. We’ll land soon, tru…”

Just then, another explosion sounded. This time it was much bigger, and the plane tilted sharply to the right.

“WHAT THE HELL IS IT NOW?” shouted Simon

The side doors exploded open and, from the banging sounds I heard, I assumed the door was ripped out of the plane. The sound of the whirring wind and engine fire shrouded everyone and made it hard to hear without shouting.

Victor came walking out of the cockpit, in the middle of putting on his parachute, “THE PLANE IS BUSTED. WE LOST THE OTHER ENGINE. WE NEED TO JUMP OUT. NOW!”

“WHAT?!” shouted Laura meekly. Her voice audibly shaking.

Jack took quick charge of the situation. “EVERYONE! LET’S GO, WE NEED TO JUMP OUT NOW. THIS IS NO DIFFERENT FROM WHAT WE WERE GONNA DO ANYWAY, RIGHT?”

Jack was trying to calm everyone down.

“THE ONLY DIFFERENCE IS THAT WE’RE TOO LOW NOW TO FOLLOW THE USUAL RULES-”

“YO! WHERE YOU GOING?” shouting Laurence, which made everyone look back towards the hole that was once the door. Victor jumped out of the plane.

“WHAT AN ASSHOLE!” shouted Laura.

“FORGET HIM. LISTEN HERE” jack continued on. “AFTER YOU JUMP, MAKE SURE THAT YOU'RE FAR ENOUGH AWAY FROM THE PLANE, AND ANYONE ELSE, OR YOU MIGHT BE SUCKED AROUND BY THE AIR CURRENTS, OR GET TANGLED WITH SOMEONE ELSE. I’D SAY WAIT ABOUT 4 SECONDS AND THAT SHOULD TAKE YOU FAR ENOUGH. ONCE YOU’RE FAR AWAY, PULL THE CORD IMMEDIATELY”

“LAURENCE, GET A MOVE ON” Jack waved Laurence through as he was the closest.

Laurence got to the hole and froze. He looked back at Jack. “ARE YOU SURE THERE IS NO OTH-” before he could finish the sentence, jack put his boots squarely in the middle of Laurence’s ass and shoved him out of the plane.

“LAURA, YOU’RE NEXT”. Laura was desperately trying to stay in the plane, so Jack and Simon quickly grabbed an arm each and dragged her to the hole. “REMEMBER, WAIT 4 SECONDS AND THEN PULL THE CORD!” jack reminded her, before he and Simon threw her out.

“I KNOW YOU WANT TO GET CLOSE TO HER AND HELP, BUT IF YOU’RE TANGED, YOU’RE BOTH DEAD”. A final reminder for Simon before he too followed suit and jumped.

“COME ON MATT, MOVE!”

I get to the hole and just as I’m about to jump off…

“WAIT!” Jack grabs me and pulls me back. He fiddles around with my parachute

“A PIECE OF METAL HIT YOUR PACK. THE PARACHUTE IS FUCKED!” he said, and then began to take it off my shoulders “YOU NEED TO TAKE ONE OF THE EMERGENCY ONES. PUT’EM ON QUICK”

We both look around and realise the emergency parachutes were no longer on the plane. They must’ve flew out when the door ripped open.

“FUCK!” Jack shouts. He stood there for a second, lost.

I just stand there, shocked, but at the same time not. Looks like my time came just a little earlier than expected, but I was ready nonetheless.

Then, as if an idea struck him, Jack lunges to the side of the plane and starts taking off some of the karabiners and attaching them to the straps of his chute. “YO MATT, PUT THAT BUSTED PARACHUTE BACK ON. YOU CAN ATTACH TO ME WITH THESE, AND WE’LL GLIDE DOWN TOGETHER”

“NO, THESE THINGS ARE NOT DESIGNED FOR TWO PEOPLE. WE’LL BOTH DIE. JUST JUMP OUT BY YOURSELF MAN”. I’m not going to have him sacrifice himself for me here.

“DID THE LACK OF OXYGEN FUCK WITH YOUR HEAD? BECAUSE YOU’RE DELIRIOUS IF YOU THINK I’M GONNA LEAVE YOU HERE” jack replies, while still hooking up the karabiners to his pack.

Suddenly, the whirring of the wind and the sound of the fire die down. Looks like we were in a low altitude now.

“Listen Jack”. It’s not the time to keep secrets. This might be the last time I speak to him. “I got a brain tumour”

Jack ceases, and looks up at me slowly. “What?”. He looked at me with a confused look.

“Sorry I didn’t tell you. I wanted to have this one last trip and tell you guys at the end. Doctor says I have a few months, at best”

For a few seconds, which felt like hours, Jack simply stood there and had this confused look on his face. I knew it would be shocking, but I had to tell him this now, otherwise he would’ve insisted on the tandem jump.

“Doesn’t matter” Jack resumed preparing his chute for the tandem. “We can deal with that later. For now, we need to jump”

“What are you talking about! I’m a dead man anyway, I’m not gonna take you with me here. JUST GO!”

“SHUT THE FUCK UP AND PUT THAT SHIT ON! YOU THINK I’M GONNA FUCKING LEAVE YOU HERE??”

Jack had been my best friend since childhood. He was always there for me whenever I needed him. He was there when my mother died. I really don’t know what I would’ve done if he wasn’t there; pushing me towards crazy adventures here and there, and taking me out of my comfort zone.

He is the most loyal friend anyone could ask for. I know he’s not going to back down here, so I grab my chute and start putting it on.

“This is going to be a bit different since it’s not standard tandem gear. You need to hold on to me tight when we jump” Jack started walking towards me. “Don’t ever pull your cord! It could tangle us point-”

“Sorry Jack…” I grab him by the front straps quickly before he could hook the first karabiner and shove him out of the plane in a swift move. He tried to grab onto the side of the plane but just slid off

“FUCK! MATT, NO!”

I look out of the window and notice that he pulled the cord. Thankfully his experience and training took over and he pulled the cord almost automatically.

Its fine. I wasn’t gonna be here long anyway. I’m not gonna drag my friend with me for no reason.

Truthfully, I was looking forward to the last few months in my life. I had so many plans to catch up on what I missed out on. Although, that list wasn't very long, thanks to Jack pulling me along to his crazy trips.

Its fine…

I'm fine…

Its… what is that?

Under the pilot’s seat I see an emergency inflatable dinghy!

“it’s no parachute, but it’s worth a try when we’re above sea!”

This is hope I thought I wouldn't have. I'm not fine! I don't wanna die here!

I quickly remove the packaging and pull the cord to inflate it. The plane’s gliding gave me some time, but the water was getting awfully close. When the dinghy was about half way done, I jumped out of the plane, with the dinghy positioned under me. This was a hail mary.

*****

“head trau…pos…concus…” I could hear broken speech all around me. Is this heaven?

“Looks like the patient is waking up. Call the attending physician”

“Hello Mr Sanders. My name is Doctor Clancy. You were in a plane crash and were brought to us. Please don’t move just yet, we need to carry out more tests to make sure we don’t miss any broken bones and such.”

People in heaven sound very weird.