By Lincoln Hayes
Carl lay at the bottom of the ravine; arms splayed, legs shattered in infinite ways.
He chuckled gingerly, through searing pain and bubbles of blood and spit. To Patti, his septuagenarian pilot-slash-skydiving instructor, he must have looked like Wile E. Coyote, plummeting out of sight before sending up an anticlimactic dust cloud.
In these, his final moments, he reviewed his pre-jump checklist.
Where did I go wrong?
Parachute? Packed. Goggles? Ready. Winds? Favorable. Landing zone? Clear.
Finally, it dawned on him. As he’d jumped, Patti had exclaimed:
“Remember to pull the goddamn ripcord, Carl!”
Ah, shit.
He knew he’d forgotten something.
Fun little piece, Lincoln. It’s always those details that will get you.
This made me chuckle.
Very well done. A satisfying, fun read.
Like the dark humour and twist at the end.
Oh my. That’s a big opps. Well done.
Oops!
Loved it! Well-written, clever flash. Nice job on this.
clever piece of writing. love the tone