Double Dare

Releasing fear through water and air

Balloons flew overhead. There were hundreds of them.

“Are you sure you don’t want to go on a balloon ride?”

“I’m sure, Kesra. I’m enjoying all the balloons just watching them from the ground. If I’m afraid of getting on a plane then you can imagine how getting in a balloon would freak me out. I mean how do all those balloons keep from bumping into each other? Sure, they look beautiful floating there in the sky but it also looks so dangerous.”

“Sylvia, have you ever been on a plane in your life? Have you ever been up in the sky?”

“Nope. And I never will be. I really don’t know where the fear comes from and I can’t afford to pay a noggin doctor thousands of dollars to find out. Who knows? Maybe I died in a fiery plane crash in a past-life.”

Kesra rolled her eyes.

“And what about you? You’re thirty-two years old and you don’t even know how to swim. What’s with that?”

Kesra looked around to make sure no one heard that, “Well, maybe I died from drowning in a past-life.”

They both laughed.

Kesra got serious, “Okay, let’s make a deal. I’ll let you push me off the high diving board into the deep end of the pool if you take a balloon ride with me into the air.”

It was Sylvia’s turn to roll her eyes, “Yeah right. No thank you… although the idea of pushing you off the diving board sounds enticing.”

The two women remained silent for several long minutes as they watched the many balloons in the sky.

Abruptly, Sylvia grabbed Kesra’s shoulder, “Let’s do it!”

“Do what?”

“Look there are a few balloons still on the ground. Let’s go get some tickets for a balloon ride. Then tomorrow we’ll go to the public swimming pool and I’ll push you off the diving board. I’ll do it if you do it. Double dare.”

A smile slowly spread across Kesra’s face, “Okay, let’s do it!”

The two women ran towards where a balloon was loading passengers. They got in and before they knew it they were slowly lifting up into the air.

With one hand Sylvia was tightly clutching the rim of the passenger basket. The other hand was squeezing Kesra’s hand. The higher they got, the more incredible the panoramic view became. Sylvia’s fear diminished a little bit as she began feeling the thrill.

The hot air balloon reached a certain high altitude that the operator maintained. It then floated across the sky towards the lake. It was while the balloon was over the lake that the gas powered fire went out. The apparatus that kept the flame going and the balloon filled was no longer working. The operator frantically tried to get it working again but he was unable to.

The balloon began descending; slowly at first but then with increased speed as the balloon began shriveling. Looking down, it became apparent to the two women that they were going to crash into the lake.

Just before they hit the water Sylvia jumped out of the basket into the water. Since Kesra did not know how to swim she held on to the basket.

Kesra was bruised up a bit when the basket hit the water but she quickly exited the basket as it began to sink. She promptly began swimming towards the shore. That is right! She began swimming even though she did not know how. When one’s life is on the line one can learn things very quickly.

In their sopping wet clothes the two women ended up on shore on their hands and knees catching their breath. It took a long time.

Finally, Sylvia looked over at Kesra, “Hey, you swam! You swam?”

“Yeah, yeah, I swam. Since no one was going to save my ass I had to.”

As the two women slowly got to their feet Sylvia offered a theory, “Maybe our fears didn’t come from some past-life experience. Maybe it was some kind of pre-cognitive fear or something. Maybe we had fears of flying and drowning because we could somehow sense this would happen. Maybe the fear was coming from the future, not the past.”

“What the…? I don’t know where the fear came from — I don’t think pre-cognitive fear is even a thing — but I’ll tell you one thing; I’m never going swimming again.”

Sylvia shook water off herself, “And I’m never going up in the sky again.”

“So I take it there’s no need to go to the swimming pool tomorrow.”

Sylvia laughted, “No.”

They hugged.

Then the two women began walking towards an ambulance that was now suddenly approaching them.

In their next lives neither of the two women were born with a fear of either flying or drowning. They were, however, born with a horrific fear of birthday parties.

Why? Because of all the balloons!

Copyright by White Feather. All Rights Reserved. This is a work of fiction.

Speaking of lakes…