Sean Guenther

1/28/15
Audio Narrative Script
Cliffs by the Lake
I looked down, not to see how far the drop was but rather to look at my toes. They
refused to uncurl as the rest of my body shook and swayed on top of the rock ledge,
and for some ill-conceived reason I thought seeing them would help. But my eyes
never made it to my toes. As my head tilted down from blue sky, to green trees, to
the rock face across from me, they froze on the dark blue water that lightly lapped
up against the rock wall some 60 feet below me.
(tumbleweed sound effect)
I suddenly started racing through infinite math problems in my head, I was about to
jump of a six story building, three times the height of my house, more than 10 times
by own height. I began to lean forward.
(Dun dun duuuunnnn)
My fifteen year old selfs stomach knotted up tighter than ever before. I have
never been the type to get scared and freeze Instead I get scared and start to
move around a lot. Every part of my body except my toes, which remained rooted
on their ledge. I shook and swung like a mad man, all the while trying desperately to
play it off like I was stretching.
Doing everything I could to nonchalantly kill time, I grabbed a small rock off the
ground and gingerly tossed it over the ledge in front of my. I watched it as it fell for
what seemed like forever
(Slide Whistle Falling Noise)
The little waves quickly shrouded any evidence of the end of the pebbles dive. I
stepped back, all the while thanking God that it was a slow day on the cliffs and
hoping that the cute girl with her family down below was still engrossed in hunting
for split ends.
(Birds Start Chirping)
It was then that I began to look around. I stood halfway up a rock wall that sat at
the back of the biggest cove. Vines hung loosely and sparsely on the rock face. As I
looked outwards over the lake the dark water gleamed and danced in the early
afternoon sun.
(Birds Stop Chirping)
(Rising Musical Swell)

Further off in the distance, massive pine trees bordered the lake. I thought about
how long these giants had stood and looked out over the lake. A couple miles away,
a mountain loomed large and powerful. It seemed like all of McCall, Idaho had
spilled out in front of me.
(Swell Ends)
I squeezed my hands into fists, flexed my toes and stepped up to the ledge. I was
ready [Pause]. I was going to make the jump
(Dramatic Music)
The calm water seemed omenishly alive, like the tiny waves had tripled in size. It
took me several seconds to realize that the water was not frenzied to match my
current emotional state but rather to signal the approach of another boat. A speed
boat had pulled into the cove during my time taking in the sites and three figures
had begun making the climb up to my perch.
(Dramatic Music Stop)
It was a common rule of the cliffs that you do not jump while others took the steep
path up the cliff so my agony was set to continue. It would have been nothing but a
short, unwelcome wait had it not been for who exactly was making the climb.
(Childrens Laughter)
A father and two children no more than 10 stood behind me. Classic locals! I
laughed internally at my own cowardice. The son, ignoring all rules of cliff jumping,
barely waited 10 seconds before brushing past me and making the plunge
(Slide Whistle Noise)
I couldnt take the embarrassment! My classic teen age ego had taken far too big
of a hit already. I turned to the cliff, took a deep breath and leapt off.
(Slide Whistle)
The water accelerated toward me, leaping upwards to grab me.
(Dun Dun)
I closed my eyes and tried to simultaneously flex every muscle in my body, tensing
each sinew and sharpening each nerve in preparation for the inevitable impact. The
shock of contact shot up through my legs as I broke the surface of the water,
executing the greatest of all pencil dives. The pain receded quickly and I opened
my eyes. It was dark but clear. The bottom was nowhere to be seen; a fact that
had been comforting before but now gave made me very uneasy.

The sunlight fractured and shimmered on the surface some twenty feet above of
me. In hind sight I wish I had stayed underwater. I wish I had basked in the absolute
silence and cooling darkness of a lake carved out over millennium, making my short
life seem so turbulent and insignificant in the vastness of that Glacier Lake.
However, natural instinct took over and I kicked for the surface.
(Shimmering Sound)
I broke the surface and took the most satisfying deep breath of my life. My family
applauded semi-sarcastically as I swam to the boat.
(Applause)
Now Im not saying that what I did was incredibly impressive. Many other men
have done the same exact thing: James Bond.. Im sure the Rock has at one point
or another, that 10 year old ahead of me who Im sure is some kind of professional
dare devil. Anyway, what I mean to say is that I shouldnt be deified for my
incredible feat of athleticism and bravery. Its just something that I happened to do
one day.
(Rocket Man Softly Begins to Fade in in the background)
I hope that someday I can bring my son to that same diving spot, and laugh quietly
to myself as he stands terrified where I once stood, waiting to muster the courage
to do what I did. And that 10 year old did.