Imperfect Pieces

19. choices

 It's a hot summer day.

The sun is beaming down at the earth with maximum opacity and it's the perfect day to go for a swim. You're standing at the edge of cliff, staring down at the crystal clear waters beneath. The jump would be far and was certainly very daunting. It makes you extremely nervous and you can't remember why you decided to go out in the first place. You shakily slip off your flip flops and look down again, breathing heavily, preparing to-

Wait. That's not right. What am I talking about? You're not about to jump off a cliff... Ah, here we go.

 You're crouching at the foot of the moving airplane. The door is open and you can see the trees and houses swaying and dancing with the wind. You're dressed in a tight air suit that makes you sweat, with strange goggles and a small backpack. You look down in fear as you realize just how far away the ground is and nervously fix your equipment. Time is ticking but you just stand there, staring down at the moving earth below you, your heart in your throat, and-

Damn it. That's not right either. Why can't I get this right? Oh... I think I remember it clearly now.

You're not about to jump off a cliff and you're not about to go skydiving. No, you're doing something far more risky and terrifying. You're falling in love. It starts with a simple smile. You take the first few steps towards the edge, strapping on the gear to protect yourself. Then come the late night phone calls, the joy in getting texts from that special someone. You're moving closer and closer, step by step. And before you know it, you're not walking at all. You're running instead of going step by step and there are no more boundaries because you've surpassed them, and you're sprinting to the edge.

Even though you're scared of water, you close your eyes and jump, falling into the icy sea. Even though you're scared of heights, you tumble out of the plane and let the wind carry you away. You're absolutely terrified. You're uncertain. You feel insane. But you're alright.

The water turns out to be quite comforting. It surrounds you and caresses your skin, the sun gleaming on its glassy surface as it slowly descends. Falling to earth doesn't turn out to be so bad either. You can see life from above and you feel free, unlimited, as the world blurs together in a beautiful and imperfect way. In the same way, when you plunged into the relationship, of course you had your doubts. You don't want to make a mistake. But isn't that what it's all about? Taking those risks, falling headfirst?

As you swim lazily back to the shore, and as you drift back down to earth with your parachute, you don't regret it all. You feel as if a heavy burden has been lifted from your shoulders.

But life isn't always fair. Sometimes, you'll be greeted with violent and unmerciful waves that will try their best to drown you. Sometimes, when you jump out of the airplane you'll come crashing down to earth with a broken parachute. The sad truth is that you won't always succeed and it's not always that easy. There is a penalty for failure, and the risk is high. Isn't that why so many people are afraid of taking the leap? They scorn at those who jump, thinking them foolish and blinded by the prospect of romance. Perhaps they are right. Perhaps falling in love is not a wise decision and perhaps the fall will kill you. What's the right choice? Only you can decide that.

For now, you're just one out of the 7.3 billion people on earth who will continue to live their lives until they get to the inevitable crossroads, where everything will change. You will try to forget some memories, shattered things that you don't ever want to remember, but the good times?

 You'll think back to those moments and smile.

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a/n: this was supposed to stop at the swimming back to shore, but my friend gave me a mini rant on how the failures are real, so there went 2 more paragraphs.

this was inspired by the wonderful video in the external link. i just thought the concept was so cool and really wanted to write something like that :)