Tori wrung her hands as Ethan disappeared into the clouds again. After Ethan’s last speed-landing, the guides had re-instructed him on how to slow himself down. Did all moms feel this much concern for their kids? She would do more than cross the Great Divide for him. Seeing her son happy was all that mattered. He wasn’t merely happy today, he was ecstatic. Was it Zee, or the zipline, that made him so cheery?

“Listo?” asked the guide. “You ready?”

She nodded. If they’d permitted her to, she would’ve taken off the moment Ethan jumped. Letting him go anywhere without her was a challenge. Watching him hang above a canopy of trees was death by anxiety.

The guide gave her a gentle push, and she was off. For the current stretch of line, she sat upright. The Superman position was well beyond her comfort level; sitting upright was much more acceptable.

Tori held tight to the cord connecting her harness to the stationary line. Her sunglasses prevented the strong wind from penetrating through to her eyes. They also filtered out the sun’s harshest rays, leaving Tori with a clear view. The sun barely broke through the dense fog. Thankfully, her glasses wonderfully warmed the meager light, brightening her stunning surroundings.

As she increased in speed, during the slight decent, Tori’s stomach fluttered uncontrollably. She was ten again, sliding down a steep waterslide at the amusement park. Ethan waited for her on the next platform with a wide grin on his face.

“Way to go, Mom!”

She wobbled a few steps after being disconnected. “Thanks, bud.”

“Now comes the best part,” he said, jumping up.

“Longer line?”

“No, a Tarzan swing. We’re gonna drop a hundred and fifty feet.” He pointed his finger to the sky. “Zee says that’s like free falling from a fifteen-story skyscraper before you start swinging back and forth.” Ethan swung his arm up and back down across his body.

Tori felt her head begin to throb again. “Excuse me?”

“It’s really not that bad.” Zee came to her side, taking her hand. “Walk along the overwalk with me. We can look down at the drop at the end of the metal walkway. Then you can decide if you want to swing.”

“Okay.” Tori took in a nervous breath. “Let’s take it slow.”

“Slow?” Zee squeaked. “When I’ve made a life-changing decision, I like to dive in head first, fast, super-fast.”

“Is this a life-changing decision?” Tori countered.

“Sure, every decision could be life-changing. I had a friend that decided to do something every day that scared her.”

“And she’s still alive?”

“She’s now an executive for a Fortune 500 company.”

Zee motioned to the grate at their feet. “What do you think?”

Tori squeezed his hand as someone reached into her chest and crushed her heart. “That’s a serious drop. I don’t think I’m going to do it.”

“Let’s decide that when we get to the launch pad.”

“Launch pad?” Tori examined the two guides who were waiting at the end of the walk-way for their next victims. “They’re going to launch me?”

“Figuratively speaking.” Zee laughed. “I’ll give you a deep muscle massage of your neck and back after this to relieve the tension I can see building with your every step.”

When they reached the drop-off, the two employees, one seated and one standing, clipped a few cords onto her waist, and pulled here and there. As she looked down into the low, lush forest, a hand gave her an ever so gentle push on her lower back; just enough to send her off the edge to her sure demise. Those were her thoughts as her spleen traveled up into her throat, thus preventing her from screaming. By the time she caught her breath, she was swinging back toward the tower for the second time. A guide at the bottom of the swing pulled on a rope connected to Tori that slowed her motion and pulled her to him.

The guide unhooked her as quickly as she had been clipped in. Her legs trembled as they carried her behind the rustic wooden fence, where she had been instructed to wait for the next victim.

“Yeah!”

Tori knew that scream. She looked up as her son fell, fell, and fell some more. His legs spread out to their sides from the wind resistance. The hand that had squeezed her heart was now digging its long fingers into her heart valves, impeding all blood flow from circulating through her body. She sat on the muddy ground the second he touched down.

He threw his hands in the air. “That was awesome!” he screamed as he danced his way to her. “Can we do that all again?”

“At this rate, I’m going to own that Fortune 500 company.”

Ethan sat on the ground next to her and smiled up with his soft blue eyes. “If you married Zee, then we could come here all the time.”

Tori knew to expect this from Ethan, but not this soon. She could tell Ethan was forming a bond with Zee. Ethan may be ready, but was she? Merely hearing the word marry conjured up sentiments of betrayal.