"I can't believe you talked me into this" Ethan muttered, shaking his head into disbelief as the two of them peered into the dark depths of the crevasse that lay beneath them. Ethan was strapped into a harness attached to a supporting that hung above them and Cal just grinned at him. "Come on Nibbles, there's only one way" he taunted, tapping the green helmet strapped to Ethan's head. He pointed in the direction of the finish line, just 200 feet away from them at the other side of the crevasse. "Come on, just one little leap", he teased shaking the wire pulled taught above them.
Ever since Ethan had decided to be more Cal, Cal had been nagging him to go on all sorts of crazy adventure days and he'd finally agreed and settled for a caving experience out in the Dales. So far, they had crawled through caves which seemed only to get tighter and once they had finally emerged, much to Cal's dizzy relief (though he wouldn't admit it), it had been a 2 hour trek up a mountain involving a bit of multi-pitch climbing when they hit a sheer rock face, but now, they were here.
The rest of the group had already taken the zip line to the finish point and now it was just the two of them left. "Cal" Ethan said desperately, trying not to look down into the looming hole beneath them. Ethan had always been scared of heights, ever since they were little. He remembered going in the London eye with Matilda and Cal when he was about 6 and hearing another boy say "I bet the pod will fall down and smash if anyone moves". Ever since, he hadn't been able to shake the vertigo that took over his mind anytime he went anywhere even remotely dangerous.
"Do you want me to push you?" Cal asked, only semi-serious. "Actually yes, that would be brilliant" Ethan answered sarcastically, "Okay then" Cal laughed and suddenly Ethan was hurtling across the crevasse towards the finish point. "I hate you!" he shrieked, laughing as he glided over and landed with a whoop on the other side.
Once unhooked, he looked back across the crevasse only to see Cal standing staring and, from what he could tell, shaking. "Come on Cal!" he called, "don't be a baby!".
Cal took a deep breath and tried to ignore the tremors that shook through his legs. Secretly, he'd hoped that Ethan would insist that he went first, but stupidly he'd pushed him and now he had to pay the price. Sighing he took a step forwards, breathed in deeply, glanced upwards and jumped.
Immediately, he could feel the rush of cold air in his face, and with adrenaline coursing through his veins, he opened his eyes. He was flying horizontally towards Ethan and the instructor and he looked down. This had to be one of the most beautiful thins he'd ever seen. There were brilliant green ferns and thick ivy ropes thriving upwards along the damp, bronzing rocks. "Wow he breathed" and then let out a whoop as the sheer speed he was travelling at combined with the immense drop and sheer rock face below him caught up with him. He felt on top of the world and stretched his arms out, feeling the air flicking at his fingers. Once again, a rush of adrenaline shot through him counteracting any fears he had experienced before.
As soon as it started it was over again and his feet were on the ground. His face was lit up as Ethan hopped over to him, the adrenaline clearly having gone to his head. "How was it?" he asked, breathless; the only response Cal could manage was a sigh and "Wow".
Ethan's eyes lit up for a moment "Ooh Cal, I've booked us in for something exciting when we next have time off. "Ethan what did you do?" he asked, a threatening tone to his voice, adrenaline now gone. "Well" he said, "next month, we're doing a skydive for Naomi House"
"I" Cal laughed "Am going to kill you!"