It happened to me

Free Fall

I have always been intrigued by heights and deep spaces. It is natural for me to think how it would feel to skydive or deep dive whenever I see such places. One such place that caught my attention was the underground concrete water tank in our house. I have never been down there, unlike the water tank that was at our old house which I regularly got down and helped my folks clean it. It was comparatively smaller and wasn't intimidating. But this is huge, I could swim in it without hitting my head against the wall or I could stand, still, the roof would be taller. There is an opening with a lid (inspection lid) where a valve can be operated to control the municipal water flow. There is also a tap outside from which we collect drinking water. The mechanism is that if the valve is open, the tap won't dispense any water. I usually keep the tank's inspection lid and valve open so that I can hear whenever the water flows out of the pipe. Yesterday was one such day. I was waiting and then I went about doing other chores. Then I had to dry my towel. So I came outside and since I couldn't reach the rope where we hang clothes, I raised my left heel in order to reach it, and before I knew I was inside the underground tank drenched. For a minute I was dismayed and didn't understand what had happened. Only then I remembered that I'd left the lid open and while stretching my heel to dry my towel I had landed my other foot on the lid thinking it was closed, and lost my balance and fell inside. Then I gathered my voice (which didn't work properly ) and called my dad who tried to pull me out of the water. Since the water level wasn't high I didn't drown. When I tried to lift my right hand, my lat hurt. So I used a ladder to climb up to the surface. I was full of adrenaline and my hands were trembling. I'd hit myself in my shoulders and below it during the fall. This was such a weird experience for me as I got the adrenaline rush from something that was till then just my imagination as I have always wondered what would happen if I ever accidentally fall inside. I don't know why but I just couldn't stop laughing after the incident.