The tremors began on the couch.
Shannon and I were leisurely thumbing our way through an Hawaiian tour book, making lists of potential activities for the trip we had just booked.
“Swimming with dolphins sounds like fun.” We wrote it down.
“Let’s go to the volcano!” More notes.
“How about skydiving?”
Palpitations.
Dry mouth.
Quaking.
I clasped my hands together so that he would not see them shake violently.
“Sure.” I replied, nodding robotically. “Sure. Sure.”
“You okay honey? You look a little pale.” Shannon got up to get me a glass of water and I tried to calm myself down.
I think skydiving is one of those things that everyone considers for at least a moment or two. It’s a thrill that you might feel 100% capable of or interested in when you’re sitting, say, at a bar or a restaurant in the middle of New York City in the dark depth of winter. But here it was on the table for real.