It is the 17th of December. There are just seven days left until Christmas. For some people, this time is the silent time, but for others it is much more adventurous. Tom and Lucas are best friends. They are on a trip through Australia and the 17th is the last day of their vacation. While Lucas is still planning, Tom has already had a very special idea:
I sat on a chair and searched the internet for a suitable activity. “What do we want to do today?” I asked. Tom walked up and down in his hotel room while packing his backpack. He replied with a grin, “I planned something fantastic. It will be a great ending to our holidays.” ”Don´t freak me out! Your ideas are always crazy! What are we going to do? Tell me!” I responded and jumped up. “Stay calm. You will see… But, you have to wait a little longer. First of all, you should get ready. Our bus will arrive in half an hour,” Tom reassured me and took a few steps towards me, “trust me, it will be great.” “This is hard for me in this situation. The last time you planned a trip on your own we rode bikes through an incredible steep forest,” I reminded him. I asked frustratedly, “But I have no choice, do I?” Tom smiled mysteriously at me and gave me a list, “You might need these things.” I looked at it and said, “So far it looks harmless. Food, money, a change of clothes. Nothing special.” A little irritated, I started to pack everything.
The friends managed to get ready just in time. A short time later both were sitting together on the bus. “Are you now going to tell me where we are going?” I asked a bit annoyed. “We will be there in a minute,” Tom explained and focused on his magazine about bungee-jumping again, which he had been reading the whole time. Frustrated, I looked out of the window. Except for a signpost pointing to a canyon nearby, I saw nothing special. A few minutes later, the bus stopped at a parking lot and everyone got off. Tom just informed me, “We will be there soon.” We were walking along a narrow path when I noticed a sign saying “Bungee-jumping at `deadly bridge` 100 meters away.” I was shocked. Tom was planning to jump off a bridge, a bridge called the deadly bridge! He seemed to have noticed that I knew what was about to happen and asked, “Are you ready?” I could neither answer nor react. I was paralyzed. I hardly noticed the preparations for the jump and did not say any word. When it was our turn, I hesitated and wanted Tom to go first, but he refused with the words, “If I jump first, you will run away.” Basically, he was right. So I had no choice and had to jump off the deadly bridge into a river many meters below me. At the moment of the jump, I noticed the stunning view over the canyon and thought only, “Under other circumstances it would be really fantastic here.” Everything that followed was indescribable. Indescribably terrible. While falling into the deep, the ground came closer and closer and everything around me blurred. I prayed that it would be over soon when I suddenly felt a jolt. It felt as if somebody was pulling my legs out and I was pulled in the air again. The whole thing repeated itself for a few times until I finally stopped just above the water surface. A split-second later, a boat came to free me. Sitting completely terrified in this boat, I watched Tom jump off the bridge with much more enthusiasm and swore I would never let him plan anything again.
written by Tobias, year 10, January 2023