Alice Wood, The Girl With No Fears

Ordeal 3, Awakening Earth

I'll be the first to admit. I've been feeling a bit weary since my last ordeal. It's like eyes are watching me everywhere. My body aches and groans, begging me to stay at home. I feel unsafe here.

I'm a surprised that I agreed to this at all. Falling to your death of hundreds of miles. A parachute releasing at the last possible moment. Your leg twisting and turning, snapping and cracking, beneath your body weight. Laying alone in the snow, busied and helpless. That's more than enough to put one off from free falls and sky-dives for a lifetime.

However, somehow, my quest has taken me to Mexico. To a pit cave where only the most adventurous dare to go. Beneath my feet are countless miles of cave shafts and passages. The deepest pit cave on the planet.

Bright clothing clings to my body. My sweaty palms grips onto the bag. You would not believe how many times I've tested this equipment, I'm determined not to repeat Mt Everest.

I breathe slowly, keeping myself calm. Doubt and worry creeps in when someone throws an encouraging nod in my direction. At least somebody has confidence in me.

When I can't stall anymore, I take my final step towards the edge of the cavern. Below me, an open pit to air, the cave of swallows: They say it's big enough to fit the empire state building inside its walls. Well, here goes nothing. I close my eyes, inhale, and allow myself to fall.

The wind burns my skin. Water droplets sparkle around me. My heart is spasming in my chest. My body's engulfed in fear and excitement. The single slit of light shrinks as I grow nearer to the floor.

I'm falling at a hundred miles per/hour, gravity beckoning me to the ground.

I bang my head on something, my ears ring. I lay my hand on my forehead, rubbing it, attempting to sooth the pain.

I shake my head, trying to keep my attention on the fall. I notice it's much darker all of a sudden, there's only a small slit of sunlight escaping into the cave.

Hold on. I'm only supposed to fall for 10 seconds, yet I'm still falling.

Then, there's a roar. Groans and grumbles of an unknown animal bounce around the walls. Flames leap up the cave and the surfaces are painted in purples and blues, the colours of hot rocks.

In the corner of my eye, I catch the glimpse of a strange creature. It's large and covered in scales, its teeth are bigger than me. It stares at me with its beady eyes, daring me to come closer. Its gaze is enough to kill somebody.

The beast spreads its wings and howls. This thing is a dragon; there's a dragon, in this cave.

The dragon sores up towards me. It's nostril flare, I must have angered it somehow. Fire flickers at my feet, smoke fills the cave. All I can see is a pair of beady red eyes staring into my soul.

The smoke thins. The beast spreading its wings, preparing to fly.

I need to slow down, the buy time before I reach its lair. Wait... The parachute! This thing better work. I yank on the cord, my parachute releases. It swings my body towards the side of the cave. I try to use the handles to guide myself away from the rocky edges.

I hear a tear, the parachute has ripped in half, snared on the rugged sides. The string stretches and I jolt, coming to a sudden stop. I'm swung to the side and hit the rocks. I cling to the slippery stones. Preying my grip is strong enough to hold me.

My ears are ringing, I can feel a liquid trickling along my cheek. My head is pounding, punishing me for hurting it.

I look around for the dragon, but it's gone. Maybe I imagined it?

A rope falls by my side, a young man slipping down it. He lands by my side, smiling at me. How can he be so positive? "Are you alright Alice?" he asks me, I nod. He clips metal onto my harness and pulls me towards him. His hand brushes on my cheek, collecting the liquid. "Do you have a headache?" he asks. I nod again. He puts his finger under my chin, moving my head from side to side. "I think you might have a head injury," the young man tells me.

Does that mean I did imagine it? The dragon, falling forever? Was it all just in my head?

I feel my back feels warm, smoke tumbles at my feet. I swear I can still see those red eyes in the distance. Maybe I didn't imagine it.

The gentleman tugs onto the rope, keeping an arm around me as we ascend towards the sky.

Free falling is really not my forte