By Jack Joseph

This is a true story in response to the “danger” prompt. Though I didn’t know it at the time, it runs out that I had fractured my collarbone, but not nearly bad enough to do anything about it.

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It didn’t take long to realize my mistake. Obviously I jumped too far, and with too much force. Obviously I shouldn’t have gone for the one that was bound to break soon anyway.

But isn’t that the point?

Don’t I climb to be unsafe, to go someplace few others have been, to get that wonderful feeling as the branches move beneath me, yet I know that I am perfectly balanced, perfectly in tune with the giant organism that supports my weight dozens of feet off the ground?

Maybe I wasn’t careful enough. Going down has always required more thought and care than the ascension. Didn’t Sam get stuck in that redwood, years ago? But oaks are not redwoods. Their branches stay thick; their roots go deep.  But maybe I shouldn’t have tried leaping from the powerful branch to the one hanging above me. Perhaps I should have climbed around it, but the opportunity was too perfect. The branch was right there, waiting to be leapt to and swung upon to reach the safety of the beam-like limb suspended just out of reach.

Destiny called, and as I felt my hands grasp the rough wood and a feeling of exultation washed over me, the truth broke in on my majestic flight and the ground rushed up to meet me. I found myself on Earth once more, but much sooner than I intended. Blood filled my mouth and a jolt of pain seared through my shoulder. My breath soon came back to me, though the people surrounding my fallen body did their best to snatch it away with gasps and interjections questioning my well-being. I rose, feeling the coarse roots beneath my right hand and the pain now scorching its way through my left. I spat out the blood and threw away the now-useless branch as laughter tumbled from my throat.

I probably seemed insane, standing there rubbing my left shoulder and finding the situation a complete joke, but it was absurd. The others didn’t know that my mistake was not due to technical error or was the result of a dangerous habit; they didn’t know I had fallen simply because I was overconfident. They could not possibly know that it was merely a combination of bad luck and mistaken judgments that led to my rapid descent.

To this day I am still warned about the treacherous nature of lofty heights. Have you ever noticed that the phrase “be careful” is particularly useless? I know what I’m doing. Trust me. There’s no need to remind me to “watch out.” If I were not being careful nor looking out for my own safety, you telling me to do so would not help. I still want to go back and climb that oak again. The ancient sentinel was perfect; one could reach wondrous heights. Why should I be concerned about my safety? There is no need to fear that which does not have a reason to be feared.