Slice of Life

I look at the river. Then the people behind me. My friend raises her eyebrows. And then I stare out at the long line, only about as thick as my fingers, spanning the huge, white-water river in front of me. I'm excited; I love stuff like this. We're about 20-30 feet up in the air, on a platform which Abby has made clear to me has no railings (sorry, Abby). The harness gives me a tug, bringing me up on my tiptoes and almost sending me flying off the platform not be choice. the guy tightening my harnesses looks at me and gives me a thumbs-up.  "You ok?" he asks. "Great", I say. He goes over how to slow down, how to speed up again, and how to rescue myself if I get stuck in the middle of the zipline, over that raging river. Great. Well, I did volunteer to go first. As soon as he finishes, I close my eyes and jump-fall off the platform and start sliding. Fast. The wind and spray from the water whip against my face. Forgetting about everything, I almost spread my arms out to the side, but then remember that I'm supposed to keep my arms on the zipline. I remember that I'm racing Katie, and look over to see that I had probably started ahead of her; she's way behind me. I'm starting to slow down, and end up just sliding gently down the rest of the line. I end up stumbling onto the platform on the other side, and getting fist-bumps and high fives from the people on the other end. Then they harness me up to go across the swaying bridge. Double-great.