Mikey Wynne

Skydiving
His response was, uh oh are your parents going to find out? I
responded, They were the ones who brought up the whole idea, theyre
doing it with me. He then said oh and looked at me like I had 6 heads.
(Pause)
Mikey were here (different voice) (open car door to plane noise
and hear it shutting in the back)

British heavy metal and tattooed men greeted us. (Play some
crazy music) Most families would be alarmed by the absurd scene or
even frightened and turn to head for the door, not my family. We all
looked at each other and smiled because we knew we were in for a wild
time. Skydive Sebastians crew is a bunch of guys from England who
came to Florida in the 1990s and have stayed there since. Now the
accents and psycho music made sense, this is their life they jump out
of planes for a living. (Pause and speak louder at the end of sentence)
The next step was signing the waivers, which stated, You have
recognized and accepted that you may be seriously injured or even
killed in the act of skydiving. My brothers, father, and I signed the line
knowing that we were literally signing our lives away if something were
to go wrong in the air.

(Say in bored and tireless voice) Paper after paper was handed
out and line and after line was signed. Once all the paper work was
processed it was time to suit up and meet my instructor. (Your first
jump has to be a tandem jump that is when a professional is clipped to
you and guides your jump) I smiled when I heard the largest British
man say, Which one of you lads is Mikey I gave a returning wave and
said, thats me. He introduced himself as Marcus, he said he had been
on 5,000+ dives and we were going to have a bloody awesome time.
(Accent) He walked over, gave me my gear, and explained to me the do
and donts of skydiving. After about 5 minutes of instruction we were
called over to the runway. (5 minutes seemed a little quick for
instruction on a dive, but who am I to judge). This is when the
adrenaline started to kick in. We yelled over the propellers as we all
piled in to the small seating area of the plane. I finally realized what I
was about to do. The plane sped down the runway, and we were
airborne. My instructor let me know that the ride up was going to be
approximately 15-20 minutes so I could sit back, relax, and enjoy the
scenery of the Florida coast. Looking at the scenery for what seemed
like 30 seconds, I then glared at the altitude gauge; we were
approaching 13,000 feet time to put on the goggles, 14,000 feet time
to check your straps 14,500 feet only 500 feet away from the dive
height. It was time to get ready. (Dramatic music in the background)

About 30 seconds later, the light attached to the altitude gauge
turned green and the door was opened. (Sound of air) As soon as the
door was opened, the roar of the planes engine and the loud gusts of
wind deafened me, things were starting to get interesting. Marcus and I
were in the middle of the pack of about 6 diver groups so we got to
witness divers before us. This was a humbling experience to say the
least. I scooted inch by inch, one foot in front of the other, mentally
preparing myself for the jump I was about to embark on (say quickly
like poetry slam guy). As I saw the divers before me jump out of the
plane, I was shocked at how quickly their bodies flew. One second they
were on the edge of the plane, the next second they were literally gone
with the wind! Mother nature just took over and sent the other divers
off into the distance like they were grabbed and thrown by an unseen
giant. My dad was the next one up and he and his instructor took the
dive right before me. He turned to me, gave me the thumbs up, and
made the leap. Seeing his face as he sat on the edge of the plane made
me eager and ready to go due to the look of amazement in his eyes.

Finally, it was my turn, and I was sitting on the ledge of the plane,
I got a monster adrenaline rush when Marcus said, your about to
freefell at 130 mph, its time to have some fun. (British accent) Then, we
jumped. (Pause) (I want to get free song) When you first jump, gravity
takes over and you have zero control of where you are going, your body
just goes wherever the wind pleases. It felt like I was in space just
floating around with no idea of whats going to happen next! As the first
few seconds elapsed, you start to feel yourself falling towards the earth
and the wind gusts flying up into your face, the free-fall was in full force.
The most amazing part of it all was the view as I darted towards the
ground, I felt so (emphasis) miniscule compared to the sky around me,
and it was the most amazing sight I have ever seen.
After about 10 seconds into the free fall, I began to scream with
exhilaration and embrace it. Letting go and realizing whatever is going
to happen will happen was an amazing feeling that I hope everyone will
get to experience at least once in their life. This is when I really started
enjoying everything about the jump and it made me wish it could last
forever. The next 45 seconds felt like a millisecond and it was time to
release the parachutes. (Whoosh sound). My body jerked upward as the
wind caught into the shoot. Being a lucky diver, my instructor let me do
the steering towards base camp, apparently this is rare for a first time
diver, but my instructor didnt seem to have any (emphasis) regard for
rules. After about 5 minutes of messing around and doing barrel roll
spins with the parachute the base seemed to be growing bigger and
bigger as we became closer and closer, it was time to give the reigns
back to Marcus so he could take us in for the landing.
Craziness was added to the seemingly most insane thing Ive ever
done when Marcus said, Lets do a speed landing! We rapidly moved
towards the ground and I thought something had gone wrong. (say fast)
We were going to crash; were going to fast (Pause) just when I
thought a broken bone was inevitable, Marcus pulled up on the straps
and we stood in the landing field unharmed. My jump was complete, I
had done it check skydiving off the bucket list! (Music to close out)