DropZone

Ethan made his way outside. Joh

‘See you tomorrow?’ said Ethan.

Joh

Ethan watched as Joh

Overhead, the clouds started to break and the sky cleared. Ethan breathed in deeply. He felt happy, but it was more than that. Now that he was doing a tandem skydive he felt like he belonged. He had a reason to be there at FreeFall; a purpose.

And Sam had given it to him.

6

‘Honestly, Mum, I’ll be fine. It’s totally safe.’

It was early the following morning and Ethan was doing his best to persuade his mum to sign the forms for Sam. He’d managed to get up in time to catch her before she headed out to work. Dad was nowhere to be seen. He’d probably dossed at one of his mates’ places after drinking himself into a stupor.

‘Totally safe?’ Ethan’s mum was looking at him dubiously.

Ethan nodded. ‘Absolutely,’ he said. ‘Totally.’

‘But if anything happened to you…’

‘It won’t, Mum, really it won’t,’ said Ethan. ‘Sam’s an amazing skydiver. Ex forces. He knows what he’s doing.’

He watched as his mum looked at the forms again. Nowadays the tiredness seemed etched into her face permanently, like it would never leave. He simply couldn’t understand why she didn’t just kick his dad out once and for all. Having him around was wearing her away little by little.

At last she reached for a pen and signed the forms. ‘Does your dad need to see these?’

‘No,’ said Ethan, and took them – sca

As he turned to leave for work, his mum gently held his arm and looked up at him.

‘I’ll see you later,’ said Ethan, turning to go, but he wasn’t quick enough to escape a kiss. ‘Mum!’ he moaned jokingly.

She smiled, and for a brief moment Ethan saw a flicker of the person she used to be. He gri

It was still early and FreeFall was quiet. Sam hadn’t even arrived to open up yet, so Ethan took a walk. It was a crisp morning, and as he strolled out onto the DZ, his feet left faint scuff marks in the dew on the grass, like finger smudges on a wet window. It was strange being out here alone, wandering around a place he was used to seeing filled with people, all chatting noisily, rushing around with whoops of amazement.

He stretched and breathed in the morning. Yep, there really was something about this place – something that felt right. It was like he was discovering something about himself.

The roar of an engine broke into the moment. Ethan turned.

Sam had arrived. His Land Rover Defender 110 King Cab rolled to a halt beside the office. It was the very definition of the word ‘beast’, Ethan thought. He couldn’t work out how something so huge could actually be road legal. The tyres looked ready to chew up and spit out a mountain, and the suspension had been jacked up to an impossible height. Aluminium checker-plate covered the bo

It looked, thought Ethan, pure evil.

Sam clambered out, waved a salute to him.

Ethan jogged over, pulling the envelope containing the forms out of his bag on his way. ‘All signed,’ he said, and handed it to Sam.

He felt he should have said more, because it felt like an important moment, but no words came, and for a second he just stood there, feeling a little awkward.

Sam took the envelope, checked the forms and nodded. ‘Good,’ he said, and looked back at Ethan, a rare smile on his face. ‘How do you feel?’

‘Like I want to get up there and do it now,’ said Ethan. ‘I can’t bloody wait.’

‘Right answer,’ said Sam, walking round to the back of the Defender and pulling down the tailgate.

Ethan followed and asked when he would be jumping. Sam pulled a huge rucksack from the back of the Defender, then slammed the tailgate shut. ‘Soon as possible,’ he said. ‘Over the next couple of days, if the weather holds out.’

‘Really? That soon?’

Sam nodded. ‘No point hanging around. Once you’ve set your mind on doing something, best to get it done. Right?’ And slapping his hand on Ethan’s shoulder, he headed off to his office.

As Ethan set off after him to get his work assignment for the day, he looked up at the sky. He was going to do a tandem skydive. There was no turning back now, not with someone like Sam. And he couldn’t stop gri

Lunch time came round so quickly Ethan almost forgot to grab a bite to eat. It was a good day for jumping, and FreeFall was heaving with people excited and nervous about taking their very own leap into the unknown.

Like a flock of geese, another group of tandems were coming in to land. The air was filled with the sound of cheering families and friends, cameras clicking, whoops, applause.

Ethan heard his name and turned. He saw Joh

Luke seemed to be a couple of years older than Joh

Joh

Ethan gave a thumbs-up and watched as the team got themselves into a circle. He knew they were practising their formations on the ground before jumping. He’d seen other groups do it, but never Joh

Then the group burst out of their formation and jogged off to the minibus that would take them to the plane. As they clambered in, Joh

Ethan laughed. God, he wanted to go with them and jump!

The minibus revved and drove off, a plume of grey smoke spluttering from an exhaust that was held on by an old wire coat hanger.

Sam came straight over to Ethan. ‘You’ll need these,’ he said. ‘Binos.’

He handed Ethan a pair of binoculars that looked almost as mean as his Defender. They were covered in a rubberized skin which had clearly saved them more than once from getting smashed up.

The sound of the plane’s engine ripped through the air and Ethan followed it as it took off. He put the binoculars up to his eyes. Their clarity and magnification was unbelievable. He zoomed in, and could see the pilot in the cockpit. Soon, though, there was little point following the plane. Best to wait for that drop in the sound of the engine, like Joh

‘Still want to do it?’ asked Sam.

‘Can’t wait,’ said Ethan, and nodded at the plane. ‘How long have they been jumping?’

The question he really wanted to ask was how long would it take for him to be as good as they were, and how much would it cost, but he didn’t want to sound too cocky.