I stared down at the water 20 feet below me, my stomach turning. I was shaking. “Okay, Rhys. Get it together. You’ve done this before!” That, of course, was a lie. I had never jumped 20 feet.

Everyone was looking, waiting for me to chicken out, to back away. I took a step back and closed my eyes, my mind went black. All I could feel was the wind on my face and the cold hard floor of the balcony overlooking the lake. Then with a burst of energy and a quick step I threw myself over the edge into oblivion! Time slowed as I sailed through the air thinking “Ha! This is just like flying!”

Then I fell.

I plummeted towards the water’s surface below me like a block of concrete hollering a wordless cry! “Oh god, I hope the waters deep enough!” was the last thought through my head before I connected with the water.

I opened my eyes to see weeds and shot up to the surface. I felt air envelop my head and looked up to see the balcony above me.

“You okay down there?” a voice called out. The voice was followed by Asher’s head popping over the edge to stare down at me.

I nodded my head, replying “That was so fun I’m going to have to do it again!”

I have had a lot of pets over the years that I have been alive. I used to three cats, but two of them died. Their names were Spike and Eclipse. They were code named after Macintosh computers. The last cat is named Lola and she is 15 years old.