The Time I Went Skydiving

One day, I was hanging out with my friends, Steve and Curtis. They were talking about going skydiving soon. They asked if I wanted to skydive too, but I was short on funds. I told them I would still ride with to take photos of them in the air.

A few days later, we drove down to the skydiving place in San Marcos, Texas. It was a normal, sunny day; excitement was in the air. The 4-hour drive down went well. We arrived early so Steve and Curtis could take a class to learn the basics of jumping out of a plane tandem with the instructor before they actually went up,

After Steve and Curtis signed the release forms and paid, Curtis said: "Hey, would you like to go too?"

I said, "Are you talking to me? I’m just along for the scenic drive and to take a couple of pictures!"

He said,"Yes, I have a little extra money if you'd like to go. You can pay me back over the next couple of weeks. It will be fun and we can make some good memories!"

"Yea bro! You should go!" Steve chimed in.

After a little bit of thought, I said, "You know what? Let’s do it!"

I went inside and filled out the release forms too, which basically state that you can't sue them if anything goes wrong. Curtis paid my fees and we all went to the hour-long instruction class.

After we completed our instruction, we suited up and watched a few other people jump - it was cool! Each group went up in the plane to about 13,000-14000 feet in altitude. As the skydivers jumped, they looked like little balls falling in the sky.

The time came time for Steve, Curtis, and I to board our plane. We were all hyped up and eager!Steve, Curtis, and their instructors climbed into the plane first. My instructor, who reminded me of a more talkative version of Fabio, and I followed. The plane took off and circled all the way up until we reached 14,000 feet.

My instructor said, "Well, we were the last ones to get in, so we are going to be the first ones going out!"

At this point, my nerves were pretty chilled, so I calmly said, "Okay."

I looked back at Steve and Curt, who had big smiles on their faces. It made me laugh.

A lot of things were running through my mind at this point because this was my first skydiving experience. The instructor strapped me to his harness and we were connected.

I said, "Well, I can’t back out now..."

He replied, "When we jump, do you want to do front flips, like 3 of them?"

I shouted, "Heck yeah! That sounds awesome!"

He said, "I’m going to count to 3 and then we're going to jump!"

I said, "Okay, sounds great!"

We reached the 14,000-feet mark and he opened the side door where we'd all climbed in earlier.

The wind was blowing hard and I could see the bright blue sky. I walked along the side of the plane and grabbed onto a bar just above the door opening.

The instructor said, "Okay, on the count of 3!!"

"One...two...three..."

I let go and tried to jump out of the plane, but he was still holding on. There I was, dangling by the harness, wondering what the heck was going on.

Finally, he shouted, "Four!!"

We jumped out of the plane and did 3 front flips. I thought to myself, "This dude is messing with me hard," as I free fell like a rock thrown from a cliff.

After the 3 flips, we stabilized; it was like we were flying. We were spinning around and I could tell earth was getting closer and closer, even though we were still way up in the sky.

After a while, Fabio said, "Okay, I’m going to pull the cord."

I was like, "Yesssss!"

He pulled it and the chute came out, but it wouldn't open fully. It was tangled! I kept asking Fabio if we were alright, but he wasn't responding.

Fabio did turns to try to get the chute to open fully. After what seemed like an eternity, (even though it was probably only several seconds,) he said, "I’m going to cut away."

I thought to myself, "Oh no...this is going to be the end of days for Fabio and me..."

He cut away and I saw the chute fly off into the distance. We were free falling once again. He pulled the reserve chute and thankfully, it opened.

He finally said, "We are going to be alright now!"

We didn’t get to do any of the fun turns during the jump because the reserve was much smaller. But after what had just happened, I didn't mind. Fabio told me to pull my harness down from my waste to under my knees.

He said, "We are coming in for an emergency landing, you're going to land on your butt."

I said, "Okay," and we did one more turn.

As soon as we landed. I got out of the harness and started ripping up grass, thanking the universe that I was still alive.

It turned out that it was my instructor's first jump where he wasn't using a parachute that he had packed himself. Because I was heavier than the person who jumped before me, he had to use a larger one that someone else had packed, instead.

He told me that I should go again right then, otherwise, I'd never go again at all because I'd have that much time to think about it.

I was like, "Nope! I’ve made up my mind I’m never going again!"

He said, "Well, you had the jump that all people dream about and the biggest adrenaline rush you could ever have! And, you got your money's worth!"
Just then, I looked up and to see Steve and Curt, controlling their chutes, about to land, and having a great time! I thought to myself, Man, Curtis doesn't even know that he'd almost just paid for my death!"

Needless to say, that is the first and last time I will ever skydive! What a crazy experience it was!