Reader\'s Digest Canada - 04.2020

In the last moments before I climbed into the

Cessna, I turned and faced a young, bearded

man who was pointing a video camera at my

face. I wore a jumpsuit made of panels of fluo-

rescent orange and green fabric, the colours

faded by years of sun and wind. A pair of gog-

gles and a leather helmet were strapped on my

head. “Why are you here?” the man asked.

I took a deep breath. “My name’s

Eva,” I said, speaking to the camera

lens, “and I’m here to face my fear of

falling from heights.”

I crawled into the tiny plane, awk-

ward in my elaborate harness. Only

the pilot had a seat—all the others had

been removed—and I sat on the floor

behind him, facing backwards, spoon-

ing with my divemaster, Barry. Another

pair climbed in beside us: divemaster

Neil and his charge, Matthew, a first-

time skydiver like me.

They sat by the open doorway, and

Matthew and I bumped fists as the little

Cessna rattled its way down the gravel

runway. Matthew looked elated. I knew

I was supposed to be excited, too, but

I couldn’t get there. For the moment, I

existed in a bubble of cold calm. That,

I figured, was preferable to the likely

alternative: wild, hair-tearing panic.

reader’s digest

86 april 2020