Posts tagged Trapeze

She soared through the air, her eyes shut, prayers rushing through her head. It had been only three days since the fall, and her confidence was slow to return.

Her heart thumped in her chest. She gained speed on the downswing, then glided up toward the rafters. She felt gravity pulling at her insides, and she knew exactly where she was, even though she chose not to look.

Sergei would be mirroring her across the way. He’d be ready to catch her in a few seconds.

As her body surged upwards, she opened her eyes and the fear caught hold. Instead of letting go of the bar with her hands, letting her knees keep hold, she took another swing backward. Marco bellowed from below.

She closed her eyes again, trying to remember the safety she once felt. She once thought of herself as a bird flying from tree to tree, weightless and free. She had never known fear like this.

“I can’t, I can’t, I can’t,” she heard herself whisper. As hard as she tried to push the fear aside, to remember her love of flying to remember the joy and rush of flipping and soaring through the air, her legs now felt like stone blocks, and her hands were wet with sweat as they grasped the chalked bar.

She swung back and forth, losing momentum, slowing with ever return. Marco continued to scream 30 feet below. A lone tear ran down her cheek and dropped the distance to the concrete floor. She grabbed the landing, dismounted and ran down the steps into the solitude of her dressing room.