The Precipice

There she stood, 

just a short distance from the edge, 

the gentle breeze dancing through her hair

as she breathed deep 

and let the smell of the salty ocean fill her lungs.

She could see the vast horizon stretched out before her, 

the seagulls playing games on the wind.

She thought of all the time it had taken her to get to this point. 

Each step and every stumble that had made up the road that brought her to this place.

A few more steps and she would reach the precipice

and be standing at the edge: 

ahead of her the vastness of the ocean 

and the endlessness of the sky.

Then there will be no more questions or choices;

she has only one thing left to do, 

the outcome the only uncertainty.  

She imaged that when she leaped 

she would submerge gracefully into the cool waters below;

feeling the freshness of it as the current gently guided her. 

But there was a chance, 

however small, 

that she would hit upon the rocks. 

That it would all have been for naught.

There she stood, 

those few small steps from the cliff edge, 

and she knew that the outcome no longer mattered. 

Every step and misstep will have been worth it

if only for those few brief moments after stepping off the edge

The moments she’ll feel like she is flying.