2-22-14 Prompt... Falling From a Cloud

Imagine you are sitting on a cloud. Describe what it looks like and feels like. Then it caves from underneath you and you begin to fall from an incredibly high altitude. Describe what it's like and what you see as you fall to the earth below you.

My piece:

I wake up to find myself on top of a purple cloud among the sky lit by the last few rays of the sunset. I see it shining and shimmering as I feel myself slowly collapsing into the coolness of the cloud beneath me. Suddenly the vapor gives way and I find myself falling, plummeting towards the earth at heightened speeds.

It's as though time has stopped for me, things are going so fast but yet everything seems like it is at a standstill. I feel the wind whistling through my hair and for once I am not afraid. I used to always be afraid of falling, but here I am in the middle of the sky and I do not fear, for I can barely see the ground.

Trees like ants begin to be seen in my view and I'm pretty sure I hit a bird or two as I drift to the earth's crust at light speed.

Pine trees, that's what they are. The landscape begins to show itself to me in increasing detail and I begin to fear that I may splatter when I hit the ground.

I see a slight river begin to form in my eyesight. I wonder yet how deep it is. If I learned anything from games such as minecraft or from movies that if you hit the water there's a chance you will be saved. I knew, however, that I was going too quickly for a foot of water to be sufficient, and wondered at my chances.

I didn't realize how far up I was.

And how far down I was going.

A splash.

I hit the river. Water folded over my head as I continued to drift down, slower and slower. My lungs freaking out over the lack of oxygen as I feel my chest caving in. It was then that I bounced. Not on the ground, no, but on the river itself. In the water. I began to drift up and the water pressure lessened.

I began to swim upwards, up towards the sky that I had fallen from. As I cleared the surface I took a gasp of air. So painful, but refreshing.