The thin air rushed past us through the open door. For once I was glad my hair was short, otherwise, it would have been all over my face, and in my mouth. All of us jumpers were used to it though. It was a little bit of light teasing before the main event. That exhilarating and disappointingly brief moment of freefall. Don’t get me wrong, the whole experience was always a treat. The buildup of the plane ride. The climax of the fall. The relief of touching down and surviving. That part was just fine. The best part was of course the fall. The adrenaline and life it gave me was what I lived for. I never really felt alive unless I was putting that life on the line. I’d tried bungie jumping, spelunking, and deep-sea diving. Still nothing compared to the rush of sky diving.

I was snapped out of my thoughts by the excited sounds of my fellows. Three people had jumped, leaving me and a man alone in the back of the plane. Another man, I suppose. Him, myself, and the pilot were the only ones left on the plane. I couldn’t remember either of their names, I think they were both new to this. The guy had been checking all our gear, and his hands had been shaking the whole time. He’d checked my gear three times over, and I could still see him anxiously looking at me. I shot him a smile, trying to calm his nerves. He cracked a slim grin himself. That made me feel a bit better. He gave me a thumbs up; it was time.

I slowing made my way over to the door, trying to savor the buildup. I looked out of the plane, taking in the view. Thousands of feet below were lush green fields and picturesque hills for miles. I always liked having a verdant mass of nature to fly over. Made me feel a bit more connected to nature as I plummeted towards it. Taking in a deep breath, I jumped out of the plane. I’d done this hundreds of times, yet still it filled my soul with warmth to combat the cold air around me. Here, thousands of feet in the air, free of everything save myself, I was home. I was truly me.

If only I had wings of my own to fly unhindered. I figured it was one of humanity’s oldest jealousies. Of the birds. The animal closest to true freedom. I’d thought about it often. How I wished I could be a bird, free of humanity and the human form. Finally free. Still, I could at least briefly brush against it, up here. I let myself twirl and dance through the air as I fell. Twisting and flowing like a dress. I’d only be in the air for a minute or two, but it felt far longer. It always did. Sometimes happiness isn’t fleeting. I just let myself enjoy it. It was getting to the point where I’d have to pull the cord, but I let myself soar through the air for a few more moments.

All good things must someday return to dust, as all does. I pulled the cord, ready for the parachute to deploy and slow my fall. That’s what was expected to happen. Instead, nothing happened. Well, not nothing. I was still falling towards the rapidly approaching ground. My body went rigid in panic, but mind was clear save for one single thought “guess I’m fucked.” I should have been more worried given the direness of the situation, but I was almost completely accepting of it. This was why I did what I did, to get a taste of death without reaching it. I pulled the cord again, still nothing. I still had time, if the parachute would deploy within the next ten or so seconds, I could still land safely. I pulled again, nothing. Again, nothing. With all the strength I could summon, I pulled a final time, and by the grace of whatever god was watching over me, the parachute deployed. I released a small, desperate sigh.

Thankfully I’d somehow managed not to piss my pants. I was getting close to the ground, and it seemed I’d be able to slow down enough not to be smashed like a bug. I could see my fellow jumpers organizing themselves in a field of pure while lilies and daffodils. I angled myself towards them, sure I’d be able to avoid the road right next to the field. I still felt a sense of dread, but given what had just happened, I figured that was warranted. I could see a truck rushing down the road like a vulture to a corpse. The wind gained some strength, propelling me towards the truck. I was still a good 40 feet over the road, plenty of room to land. Unfortunately for me, my guardian angel seemingly took a bathroom break at just that moment. I was sent downwards faster than I expected, right into the middle of the road. The shock to my system this caused was too much for me to bear, and I collapsed. The truck turned the corner towards me too quickly, and before I could even blink, I was met with the full force of the truck running into me. And then, there was only darkness.

I’m not sure how long I remained there, floating ethereally through the endless black void. It didn’t feel like much time passed, but I had no way of knowing. All I knew, was I was suddenly blinded by a pure white light. I felt it envelope my entire being. I could then hear two voices, seemingly bickering inside my head.

“This one wasn’t scheduled for our realm, what have you been doing?” said a regal, airy voice.

“No… but I sense that it could bring us a great bounty of entertainment” said a grand, deep voice.

“Oh of course that’s what you care about, who gives a shit as long as you have something to keep your small brain occupied!”

“At least I’m not a stuck-up bitch who does nothing but complain all the fucking time!”

“You are such a child, let us just deal with this one and get back to getting out of here.” With that said, the two voices were erased, and my consciousness faded back into the abyss.

Unlike before, though I was still surrounded by darkness, I could at least sense that I wasn’t in some kind of void. I could feel some kind of thin wall surrounding me on all sides. I gave it an experimental push. It was firm, but not so much that it could hold me in. I put all my strength into it, shoving against a flimsy part of the wall. Part of it gave way, blinding me with light. I kept pushing, and an opening wide enough for me was revealed. Slowly, I crawled out. I looked around, I could see leaves and branches all around me. I appeared to have crawled out of an egg resting on top of a leaf.

I was feeling extremely hungry, and for some reason, was compelled to eat the shell I’d just crawled out of. The whole situation was already weird enough, and I was feeling too ravenous to care. So, I gobbled the whole thing down. Unfortunately, it tasted like one would expect. Hard, gross, and tasteless. But at least some of my hunger was dissolved. I began to eat some of the leaf my egg had rested on, which was at least better than the shell.

With my stomach assuaged, I began to think about my situation. Clearly I’d died, the truck had killed me. That should have worried me more than it did. I was feeling okay, despite my death. I’d always been a thrill seeker because it put me close to death. Now I was mostly just confused. First, I had to figure out why I’d emerged from an egg of all things. I managed to twist my body, so that I could look at myself. I hadn’t been sure what to expect, but it hadn’t been what I saw. My body was long, and composed of brown, earthy tones. I had grubby little legs, a multitude of them running down my underside. I had no knowledge of insects, but even with my meager level of learning I could tell I was a caterpillar. Only one word came to my mind. Shit.