The sky was lovely. The ground wanted a word.
What Did I Say?
Jo stood at the edge of the landing field, looking down at her boots. Both were still on her feet, although a blade of grass had found its way beneath one lace.
Sam came towards her with his phone in his hand. He waited until she had finished with the instructor and her equipment had been taken care of.
“You did it!” he said.
“I did.” Jo looked up at the sky, then back at him. “Did you hear me when I landed?”
“Every word.”
“I shouted, ‘I did it!’ didn’t I?”
Sam grinned. “I thought you said, ‘Are my shoes still there?’”
Jo stared at him. “Why would I ask that?”
“I was hoping you could tell me.”
Two Different Beginnings
They walked towards the bench near the edge of the field. Jo’s legs still felt a little strange, as if they were deciding whether the ground would stay where it was.
“I remember saying I did it,” she said.
“And I remember the shoes.” Sam sat beside her. “You looked down at them as soon as you stopped.”
Jo brushed the grass from her lace. “Mum will want to know everything. I promised I’d send her a voice message before we left.”
She took out her phone and pressed record.
“Hi, Mum. I’ve landed, and the first thing I said was…”
She stopped the recording. Sam raised an eyebrow.
“Don’t say it,” she told him.
“I wasn’t going to.”
“You were thinking about my shoes.”
“They’ve had an exciting morning too.”
The Little Video
Sam showed her the photograph he had taken after she landed. Jo was smiling at the camera, her hair escaping from beneath her helmet.
“I like that one,” she said. “May I send it to Mum?”
“Of course.” He opened the photograph on his phone. “I think I took a little video just before it, but I haven’t looked at it yet.”
He found the clip and turned up the sound. They leaned together over the screen.
There was a rustle, a burst of wind, and Jo’s voice: “Are my shoes still there?”
Sam looked at her. Jo held up a finger.
On the video, she laughed. Then came the words: “I did it!”
They listened again. Sam had remembered the question; Jo had remembered what followed it.
“I knew I said it,” she said.
“And I knew about the shoes.”
“I’m glad someone was keeping track of them.”
Sam sent her the photograph and the short clip. “You can send the video too, if you like,” he said.
All Three of You
Jo began a new message.
“Hi, Mum. The sky was beautiful. I could see the fields and the road, and then the ground came up much sooner than I expected.”
She paused, smiling at Sam.
“I asked about my shoes first. Then I remembered to say I’d done it.”
She sent the message with the photograph and video. While they waited for a reply, Sam asked what she had liked most. Jo described the view after the parachute opened, and he told her how small she had looked against the sky.
Her phone chimed. Their mother had written: Congratulations to all three of you.
“All three?” Sam asked.
“Me and my shoes.” Jo held up her phone and took a picture of both boots, side by side. “She’ll want proof.”
She sent it. A moment later, a heart appeared beneath the photograph.
Livora Gracely ♥
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