EPILOGUE

“Three … Two … One!”

“Eeeeeee!” I scream as I plummet through the air.

My big brother is strapped to my back and a parachute is strapped to his. I just stepped out of an airplane and I’m a bit preoccupied with the falling sensation that is really more of an overwhelming full-body experience than a simple sensation. I can’t breathe as the wind batters my face and roars in my ears.

“Keep your eyes open,” Harley instructs calmly behind me. “Embrace every second.”

“I’m trying,” I call. “I’m just freaking out!”

He laughs. “Don’t make me embarrassed to say we’re related. Your friends are handling this better than you are.”

I stretch my neck as far back as I can and look above us through the enormous goggles I’m wearing.

Sure enough, there’s Pierce strapped to his tandem jumper, arms outstretched with one leg of his flight suit pinned back. He shouts a loud “Hell, yeah!” and waves at me with the hugest grin ever. I whimper in response.

Above Pierce, so small I can barely make them out, are Frank and Miss with their guides. I recognize Rita’s ringing call to “rock on!” from the plane. She’s amazing her doctors, hanging in to see spring unfurl.

Just like she promised.

“It’s the way I want to remember this world,” she says as she keeps right on living. Loving her is a huge risk, knowing the empty place she will leave.

But I do not hold back

or protect myself.

I love that old lady like crazy.

Just like the rest of my mismatched gang of supporters. Polly and Sparky opted to keep their feet on the ground for this one, and Miss is just fine with that. It seems her radical pursuit of the Struggle has been tempered a bit by nearly getting her entire therapy group electrocuted. Then again, skydiving as a rule should probably always be optional.

My parents are down on the ground, too, watching us with their motorcycles parked nearby. We’re still getting used to the news that Harley got into the Air Force Academy. He leaves for Colorado in a few months and it’s a huge challenge to trust that he’ll be safe, but I’m learning to have faith. Besides, I look at the landing field far below us, it’s not as if his life was ever risk-free.

My lower leg tingles, reminding me of the awesome tat I got from Dad last week. He highlighted my scar to look like a tree branch surrounded by bright blue butterflies that are so detailed you’d swear they can fly. Written in a swirl along the branch is my own version of the family motto:

The greatest risk of all … is taken with the heart.

I glance back toward Pierce. Being in love with him

is so scary.

But he’s worth the risk.

The two of us push each other to go deeper, farther, higher, and he tells me every day

how remarkable I am.

And you know what?

He’s right. I kind of am.

Adrenaline stings my tongue as I look out at the widest view I’ve ever experienced. My mountains stand watching, unmoving, and I give myself over to the fall. Trust that the chute will be there when we need it.

My wide-stretched arms embrace the whole world.

I’m connected to nothing and everything all at once.

I breathe sky now.

I am not afraid.

I am alive and I am soaring.

Free.

Pierce gives a hearty “Hoo-Ah!”

and my laughter punches the air.

“That’s it.” Harley senses the shift in me. “There’s that Dynamite.”

Yes,

here I am.