Skydive With Me
By: Daniel A. Teo
Tags: Virtual, Prose, Experience, Short Story, Skydiving

Okay buckle up and strap into your harnesses. There's no going back now! And please, for my sake, don't screenshot my face, there's no fun being a living meme on Twitter!

Haha anyway, this trip happened on the tropical islands of Langkawi, Malaysia. The trip was planned about 2 weeks before my parents and I actually took the plane there, and upon pressing the SUBMIT button on the skydiving website, I could already feel the trembling in my feet.

After 2 weeks of not being able to sleep and with a search history of “ Will I die from skydiving?”, it was THE DAY.

My parents and I booked our dive on the second day of arrival, just for the “GET IT OVER WITH” feeling. Hell, we were so darn scared of our limbs detaching from our bodies that we booked the earliest appointment possible.

You should have heard the shrieks in our hotel rooms.

This happened on the first day of our arrival. Here, I attempted Parasailing — an activity probably for those who don't have the nerves to skydive. And honestly, it was a satisfying experience. Although I could feel the banana in my pants get stretched out by the harness, at least I was blessed with an amazing view of the shores of Langkawi.

We thought this experience could be an appetizer for the actual skydive. But in hindsight, it was NOTHING CLOSE.

Here, we are at SKYDIVE LANGKAWI headquarters. The air conditioning there was so cold, it did nothing to my already shivering soul.

And trust me, that smile right there, was so forced I could feel the tears threatening to spill from the corners of my eye. Fortunately, my family and I had three amazing skydive instructors that taught us the basics and everything we needed to know for the jumps of our lifetimes.

I kinda forgot their names. Oops. But they’re Australian. If that helps.

The signing of the papers!!!

For some reason I was grateful that insurance was covered, but what can insurance do if I'm dead. HAHA. I was so negative that day. But who am I to blame? I'm literally jumping off a moving plane.

ALSO. Did I mention? This skydive is the highest in Asia, at 14 000 feet. 14000 feet! God, that is intimidating.

I didn't have any pictures of the plane and the airport, but the plane looked similar to this — just without the door. LIKE, why the hell would a pilot not install a door to their planes?

Right. Cause we’re jumping off it!

Initially, the flight was boring and being the literature freak I am, I started brainstorming poetry ideas. What a weirdo.

But after snapping from the Shakespearean metaphors on how I could describe everything smaller from above, I looked out of the window ( which plane has a window but NO DOOR?) and saw everything below. I was like “shit” what have I signed up for?

And then I could hear the pilot say something with “5000 feet” and I was like if this is 5000 feet and I'm scared, my heart would literally implode at 14 000 feet!!!

After casually waiting for the plane to ascend the clouds, and after my fake smiles trying to mask the FEAR in me, we’ve reached 14,000 feet.

“ Who wants to go first?” The pilot says.

“HELLO NO” I didn't know I could scream that loud.

After a series of disorganized argument, my Dad agreed to go first and me following after. I agreed, very reluctantly with my brain screaming only 2 words: TURN BACK.

WHEEEE. My dad said and I started laughing. However, that laugh lasted for a mere millisecond when I saw his body plunge into the clouds. HOLY SHITT.

I could barely think.

“Heads up” I SWEAR HE SAID THAT.

And I thought I looked something like Tom Cruise, not an unripe banana.

WHAT EVEN IS THIS. If I am ever questioned to change something in my life, it would be the way I posed for this. Seriously, I look messed up here. But this isn't even the worse part.

FREE FALL

And there I was, saying WHEEEEE as well but in a thousand octaves higher.

Guilty!! Might have broken my instructor’s eardrums with my mating calls. If you look closely at the picture above, you can see a very exhilarated teenager attached to a very pissed off Australian. LOL.

The free fall was honestly terrifying, and it was unfathomable that I had just jumped off the plane. But nonetheless, the skydive did itself grant beautiful sceneries from above.

Interesting fact, after the free fall in your skydive, the “plunging feeling” in your stomach will not be there, and instead, it will feel like you’re levitating!

WHAT DO AIR 14,000 FEET ABOVE TASTE LIKE?

Being the complete weirdo that I am, I wanted to taste the air up there. I mean, if water has different flavors, why not air right?

And when I opened my mouth, I knew deep down I made a grave mistake.

Note to self: Never open your mouth when falling from the sky.

After a calming glide downwards to the soft sands of the Langkawi shores, adrenaline was still coursing through my veins.

I realized only after falling from 14,000 feet in the sky, that life is TOO DAMN SHORT. Seriously, it's too short. So I highly recommend everyone to YOLO( You Only Live Once), and while you may not particularly need to jump off a moving plane, you sure do need to live life to its fullest before it all may be gone tomorrow.