They
looked down at the pool. It seemed serene like calm water, but they all knew
better. There was a thin wire that spanned the distance to the amulet. It was
too low to hang beneath without breaching the surface of the pool, but it was
also too thin to walk across. Liza looked down at the wire. She could see she
own shadowy figure reflected on the surface of the still water. A chill ran
down her spine as she realized she couldn't see her face in the reflection.
“Well…
now what?”
Everyone
stood looking to the other side longingly. Liza ran her thumb over where her
fourth finger used to reside. She had times when she could still feel it there,
aching. She had once been a rather impressive trapeze artist, though that
seemed like a whole other life.
“I
can make it,” she said, her voice cutting through the collective silence.
Matthew
took hold of her arms and turned her to face him. He looked deep into her eyes
and asked, “Are you sure?”
He
was expecting her to back down, but she knew she could do this. She had spanned
lengths twice as long in her high wire days. She grabbed hold of the staff in
his other hand and walked to the start of the wire. Everyone seemed to rebel at
once. They all took a step forward in an attempt to halt her, but it was too
late as her foot pressed against the wire. She took one tentative step off the
solid ground and stood with nothing between her and a horrifyingly uncertain
fate except a thin line. She held the staff vertically before her as she took
several deep breaths. It was just like riding a bike. She took several more
steps quickly and began to wavier. She could hear the collective gasp as she
swing dangerously to one side. The carefully positioned the staff to the other
side to balance herself. Quickly her swerving ceased as she took the last few
steps to the adjacent ground.
She
turned back to see the anxious faces of her companions on the far side and she
waved back at them.
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