SHORT STORY: Track 4 – Hopes Up

Track 4 – Hopes Up

“Hope, I am sorry, but I do not know why this would be considered fun,” Jason said with concern flooding into his eyes.

“The thrill, the beauty, the experience, take your pick,” Hope threw her arms up into the air as if it would help to express the grandeur of the opportunity.

“So putting your life on the line is fun?” Jason frowned. “Can’t we just do something else?”

“There is no just substitute for fun,” Hope zipped up. “I have tried everything else, and this is next on the list. You knew I was an adrenaline junkie when we started dating.”

“But I just have a bad feeling,” Jason was getting desperate to communicate his reserve for the adventure.

“You only live once,” Hope was ready.

“That’s kinda the point,” Jason embraced her. “I don’t know what I would do without you and I just have this feeling. I can’t explain it, but I did not feel it for the rock climbing, or hang gliding, or the bungee jumping. Please, can you at least postpone your dive until another time?”

“Jason, it was a three month wait just to get put on the list,” Hope patted him on the shoulder. “You just don’t reschedule. Gerard is the best sky diver in the country. He is the safest and the best. I will be back before you know it and then we can go to that Italian place for dinner.”

“Hope please.”

“Lasagna?” Hope smirked. “How can you resist lasagna?”

“Hope,” the thick accent of Gerard sounded as he stepped out of the grounded plane. “We go up now.”

“Please,” Jason made a final plea. “No one can take your place; it is not worth it.”

“Jason, I will be fine,” Hope turned away towards to the plane. “Life passes you by in the blink of an eye. Life can slip away when you yawn, and I am not the kinda person who wants to die in my sleep when I am ninety years old trying to struggle to remember the names of my kids. Why not make the most of it?”

“Because I have a gut feeling that if you get on that place than that is it for you, and I apologize for being so blunt on the matter,” Jason reached for her shoulder and spun Hope around so that she could see the sincerity in his eyes. “Have I ever been one to over exaggerate or make something out to be something larger than it is?”

“Jason.”

“I never thought I would find someone to settle down with,” Jason let a tear slide down his cheek. “I never thought I would find someone to understand me. Even growing up in my small town, I feel like no one even knew I was there. I never felt like I had a home until I met you Hope. Right when I first met you I knew it was right and that we were meant for each other. Now I fear that one simple act can take it all away from me. If you go up in that plane I am sure that it will take my breath away; not the anticipation of what may happen, but if something were to happen I am sure my life would end. You are my everything.

“Alright.”

“Alright?” Jason repeated.

“Alright,” Hope smiled. “If it is that important to you than I will not go. I had no idea you felt so strongly about us.”

“I just need you,” Jason hugged Hope. “This feels right now. I feel better now, it feels right.”

As the young couple stood clinched together havoc broke out behind them and Gerard came barrowing down and tackled the two before a ceiling of flames danced about overhead. The three huddled in a panic as a sweltering heat encompassed them for a brief eternity. When the burning rush subsided, Gerard hustled them up and dragged them off to a cleared distance.

“What?” Hope tried to ask and she was certain the word came out clearly, but all of their ears were ringing, so it did not really matter how well her words were understood.

“Looks like a fuel leak,” Gerard stood in a haze staring at the flames of his livelihood. “I do not know what the holdup was, but if you got on the plane when I wanted you to, the both of us would have been on that plane. We would be no more. I am glad I did not take you up Hope.”

“I think I’ve had all the adrenaline I can handle in a lifetime,” Hope said, trying to stop her violent shaking.

Jason felt as if his lungs were about to burst and he tried to start breathing again. “Hope,” he managed with a single intake of air, and without thinking he blurted out the only clear thought on his mind. “Will you marry me?” Hope looked around at the chaos, at the shattered foreigner, and at the love of her life, and the answer was clear.

“Yes.”