Today I thought I’d share an excerpt from my current work in progress, FAST FORWARD. Hope you enjoy!

“You’ve got to be kidding?” I stood, rooted to the ground as Ryan tried without success to usher me towards the ‘Ben’s Bungy Jumping’ sign. What did he expect me to say, “Oh yippee, just what I’ve always wanted!”?

“I’ve booked us both in for a jump, it’s gonna be awesome!”

“You can’t be serious? There’s no way I’m going to let someone tie rope to my feet and throw me off that thing!” I pinned him with a determined stare.

“Mum, remember at your birthday dinner last year you said you wanted to do something adventurous for your next birthday?” Ryan enquired. “You said you wanted to do something different, to feel alive again.”

I shook my head at him.

“Well, you did say it, and I listened, and I’ve had this planned for ages and it’s non-refundable so you can’t back out. Mum – you’ll thank me for this, it’s going to be something you’ll never forget.” He clamped his hands together as though in prayer.

“Never forget? This is THE thing I’d want to forget! I can’t do this. Besides, I’m f…f…fifty,” I stuttered, still in shock of my situation. “Surely they wouldn’t let seniors like me go bungy jumping?” I planted my hands defiantly on my hips and jutted out my jaw.

“Of course they do, it’s perfectly safe, and you’ve been given a clean bill of health by the doc, so there’s no reason you can’t do it. They can even jump people who are in wheelchairs, you know.”

Yeah. Probably adrenalin addicts who are in wheelchairs because of bungy jumping.

“What if the rope breaks? They could forget to tie it on properly, and only realise once I’ve plunged to my death!”

“They won’t forget. I know Ben, he’s a professional,” Ryan assured.

Professional what? Professional Idiot?

I looked at the huge purpose-built structure, completely out of place in the lush natural rainforest, and imagined myself launching off the edge to the water below. I shuddered as I saw all my saggy bits sagging upside down, my loose turkey-neck skin falling over my face, covering my mouth and nose and cutting off my air supply.

This could be fatal in more ways than one.

You can read more about this story here.

So, have you ever been bungy jumping? What’s the bravest thing you’ve ever done?

And remember, every comment left on this post and all others during May will go into a prize draw at the end of the month. 🙂