A Fall To Grace - "Staff 4 Fun" - LF2021

Weightlessness. "This must be what it's like in space," mused Mick. His mind tumbled along with his body, images of his life flashing before his eyes.

He saw his wife as she slammed the bedroom door. "It's over, you bastard!" she screamed. He felt the helplessness welling up inside him again, just as he had felt it a few months earlier. The thought of "What did I do wrong?" entered his mind again, just as it had at the time.

The image switched to the scene along the Interstate. He hadn't done anything wrong... well not very wrong anyway. He was probably speeding a little. Then he saw the police with their guns drawn, silhouetted in flashes of blue and red strobe lights, and heard the loudspeaker again: "Get out of the car with your hands over your head! Do it NOW!" The fear of that moment, only a couple of weeks prior, sent chills through his being again. How could he have known his car was identical to one that was just used in a bank robbery?

Then, as if on cue, the images in his mind changed again, to two days earlier. He could clearly hear his supervisor's words. "I'm sorry I have to do this. We can't have someone accused of bank robbery and murder interacting with our clients. When this is all cleared up, we'll revisit. But for now, you are on indefinite suspension."

The voice in his head continued. "I know you didn't do it. It's the optics, Mick. You know what it's like today. This is for your protection as well as ours." Tears welled up in Mick's eyes. One incident, just one, and his entire life was in the toilet. No wife, no home, no job, and no hope.

"It's just as well," he mused, opening his eyes to watch the water below coming up to meet him. "It'll all be over soon." Still, he was a bit shocked at how slowly this fall was going. It was almost as if he was stuck in a time warp, but he knew it was because his mind was just racing so much faster than normal. It made everything move in slow motion around him.

Mick again closed his eyes to await his fate. But this time, his mind changed images unexpectedly. This time he heard his lawyer telling him that the case was so flimsy it would probably be thrown out. He heard his supervisor's phone call, the one he wasn't supposed to hear, advocating for him. He heard his friends all telling him things would be OK. Then he heard his wife's voice again. This time she wasn't angry; this time she was scared. The words from that phone call, mere days after the traffic stop, echoed through his head again: "I love you, Mick. I'm sorry. Please come back home!"

"What is taking so long?" he wondered. Surely he should have hit the water by now! But the thought didn't last long, as his mind began to show images that were not so hopeless. He saw his friends at their last cookout. His wife, his beautiful wife, was there hanging on his arm. He could actually feel her lips as he remembered that kiss. It wasn't anything major, but for some reason he remembered it and how warm and loved it made him feel.

He could see his son waving goodbye as he drove away from the University. A full scholarship. Free ride. And the boy had done it all on his own. Mick remembered how proud he had been; they could never have afforded that kind of education, despite the fact that he had a pretty good income. Such a bright future! But then, just as Mick was able to manage a small smile, the image changed again. This time it was no memory. He was looking out of a box as his family and friends paraded past in tears. At first it was just sad faces and maybe a shake of the head as they glanced down at him in turn, but the faces became sadder as closer and closer relatives and friends passed by. He saw Duke, the happy-go-lucky guy who was never bothered by anything, with his lower lip quivering as he tried to hold back tears. He saw his sister, sobbing, her face contorted into pain. "No... no..." he thought as his son walked by, liquid streaming down his face, eyes red, and looking as helpless as if he had been an infant again. Then his wife walked by. She looked down. Her lower lip started to quiver. Her eyes closed behind the thin black veil, and she collapsed. He could make out his son and Matt, his closest friend, struggling to hold her up.

"NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!" The sound was finally enough to cut through the constant roar of the wind past his ears. He opened his eyes to see the water rushing up to meet him. He could make out the choppy waves as they threw up a mist that now burned his eyes. "God, NO! I'm sorry! No!"

Then he felt something tighten around his right ankle. His whole body was stretched as his momentum stopped just feet from the blue expanse that he expected to be his new home. He twisted around to try and get a look at his ankle. He had loosened the knot, so why was he still alive?

As the bungee cord began to pull him back up, Mick managed to catch a glimpse of the space above him. Only a glimpse, but he could swear he was seeing something there. It was glowing so brightly he couldn't make out exactly what it was, but it seemed to have grabbed onto his ankle. Then the force from the bungee's snap-back took over and his head was forced to look down at the water again.

As he bounced up and down above the frigid water, Mick was trying to figure out what had happened. He knew he had loosened the knot around his ankle. It should have slipped off easily. So how was it tight now? And what was that glowing thing he had seen? And finally, why was he trying to kill himself? He was innocent of the charges; he would be cleared at his hearing. His lawyer had said it was just a formality, only necessary because the new D.A. wanted to show he was tough on crime. He'd get his old job back easily enough, and maybe he could wrangle a raise out of them over his suspension without due cause. And Loraine... she had been angry with him before, but it always passed quickly. She had stuck with him for 22 years, after all.

-------------------------------------------

Back atop the bridge, Mick was still confused as the workers removed the rope from his ankle. He stood up, a bit shakily, and began to slowly amble away as the next jumper got ready for their leap of faith. "Back it up a couple feet!" yelled one, "That was getting close! Don't want to overwork the angels!"

"Angels?" thought Mick.

"That's just a load of hooey," replied another. "Ain't no such things as angels!"

"No, I saw one!"

"Sure you did, Jim. Sure."

"Hope you enjoyed it," said the ride operator. Nick just nodded with a fake smile across his face as he retrieved his effects and put them away. He paused a moment, lost in thought wondering where he should go next. Then he heard another one of the workers talking. "Of course I checked! Heck, that last guy would be fish food if I hadn't done that last second check on him. His ankle rope got loosened somehow. I pulled it back tight just before he jumped."

Mick looked down at his hands. There was his phone. He nodded again to the operator and walked away, dialing the phone.

"Hello? Mick?"

"Loraine... I... I just wanted to... can I come home?"



The End






by TheRedneck

It's got a It's A Wonderful Life vibe. Good storytelling.

Oh... Doug...

I'm so jealous of your writing skills... Nice job!



(Johnny goes off mumbling incoherently to himself about a Redneck raising the Staff 4 Fun story bar)


Mumble.. mumble mumble.. err.. I mean "GOOD JOB!"
Johnny

PS you know I'm just joking right?

a reply to: TheRedneck

Don't give any flags to this, this...charlatan! It's a ruse I tell ya'. He plagiarized the whole thing, I tell ya'. That aside, he's a bad man! He likes to abuse poodles, little fluffy baby poodles no less. He only eats Ramen Noodles...exclusively!!! Who does that?! He cut off my arm! Seriously!! (It grew back).

If you vote for this villain, well then, may God have mercy on your soul.

*Paid for by the committee of ATS Members who are definitely, in no way, absolutely not going to enter the ATS writing contest. Any attempt to prove otherwise will be met with links.

a reply to: TheMirrorSelf

Hahahaha!

Don't worry, no one is competing with this. It's just for fun.

TheRedneck

The charter development and story line was perfect as not boring with details but explaining the predicament succinctly. S&F but please go easy on the Poodles !

Wow! I loved reading your story. I agree with Johnny that you definitely have a way with words. Great use of the theme.

a reply to: TheRedneck

Man, your story really touched me. Not everyone can verbally describe flashbacks and end-of-life movietime reels, but you did it wonderfully. Life can be so fleeting, can't it? Mick was ready to end it all, but his angel said, "no, it's not your time yet."

Really satisfying tale, Red. I love a story with a hook at the end, and yours really delivered.

ETA: But Mick had to ask for it, didn't he? He had to confess to God that he was wrong. Otherwise, his head would have been caved in regardless of what the bungee operator did.

a reply to: TheRedneck

You have posted a really intense story, and the ending was not expected, but inspiring. Makes me wonder...how many times there is an intervention.

a reply to: TheRedneck

That was a really enjoyable read.

a reply to: TheRedneck

I enjoyed that thank you. Great payoff too. Though I would have felt sorry about the bungee jumping companies bankruptcy following a death on their dime.