Wind's Touch [Original Novel]

This is an original story I began writing near the end of last year. I hope to actually finish it, but I don't really trust myself. Maybe posting it on here will help me to continue with it. I doubt it, but I can hope right?

Chapter One

I had always dreamed of climbing K2. Even as a young child I would search for anything to climb - fences, trees, even to the roof of my school once. My mother would be driven crazy by all of what she referred to as my "daring attempts to kill myself" but I just brushed all of it off. I disagreed each time, saying only that I wouldn't get hurt doing this - I was careful and made sure I was stable no matter what I balanced on. Nonetheless, she worried for me. It is something parents do well - worry about their children - and admittedly I didn't do all that good of a job to reassure her, moving from climbing trees to rock climbing and eventually scaling cliffs without the aid of harness and rope. After which I discovered hang gliding through my friend Bennett Monteiro, developing a love for it that made it my newest hobby. Alongside that, Ben and I had spent the last years of university finding various dangerous activities to do and he usually was the one to suggest most of the stunts we pulled.

The wind was my favorite thing about all of the activities we did, its caress made me feel as though I could do anything. We raced bikes around a dirt track, went hot air ballooning - that was a little slow for my taste but the view was breathtaking - and even took a helicopter to ski a glacier. Every time, though, it simply didn't feel the same as hang gliding so we went back to that until the next idea came up. It wasn't until we tried skydiving that I felt we were on the right track. From skydiving we learned of Building, Antenna, Span and Earth, or B.A.S.E., jumping. Every jump I made thrilled me like nothing else had and it became my most beloved activity. Throwing myself off of tall structures with no more protection than a wingsuit or small parachute filled me with a rush unequaled to anything I had experienced before and I trained constantly in order to hone my skill. Slowly, I made my way up through the four categories, leaping from the top of cliffs and spans. Today I had made my first jump from the top of an antenna tower, tall enough to give me some moments of free falling before I had to deploy my parachute.

I was congratulated by Ben and the other couple people who had accompanied us to the jump, pride and joy swelling in my chest as though the wind had inflated it as I fell. I packed my gear into the trunk of my compact car, the trusty little Toyota Yaris had been with me for a few years now and it had carried me to every jump and climb I had made. Ben was getting into his pickup, having already loaded his things into the back, when I turned to him. We exchanged a wave and he called out something about a cliff jump next week. "Text me the details," I had to raise my voice so it could carry over the sound of Ben's engine. He gave me a nod and rolled up his window, driving off. Our companions were still putting their stuff away and they spared me a nod and more congratulation as I opened the door and swung into the front seat. Checking everything was still set how I liked it I put the key in the ignition and turned the car on. Faithfully, the engine came to life and the car started up.

Reaching for the emergency brake I turned it off, then grabbed the shifter and moved it into drive. I rolled down the front windows, a habit I had picked up from my first car to keep the air flowing in and allow me yet another taste of rushing air that I always craved. Normally I also opened the sunroof but the sky overhead looked somewhat foreboding and I was just thankful we had completed our jump before it started to rain. I pulled out of the gravel parking lot, tires crunching on the rock until I reached the driveway and moved onto the road. Typical to my traditional luck, I fell in behind a slow driver, they were trapping a line of traffic behind them and I tapped my fingers on the steering wheel. One of the most irritating things I can think of is dealing with traffic, and yet I can never get away from it - I had the poor luck of almost always finding the slowest traffic no matter where I go. I cursed when I caught a glimpse around a bend in the road and saw a string of traffic stretching for another one hundred meters in front of me before I would even reach the lights.

We crawled forward, each moment only adding up to a few feet at a time. Brake lights lit and faded in waves that crashed over me endlessly as my impatience grew. I just wanted to get home to the cozy little flat I owned. The three room apartment was a comfortable size for me, designed around an open concept it combined the kitchen and the living room while my bedroom and washroom were separate. It would be nice to get home and change out of my tight-fitting suit, wear something less restricting while I searched for something to do. Perhaps I would have time to do a bit of exercise before I had dinner. Inching forward once again, I made my way further onto the overpass leading to the intersection. I had driven through here before, the two major streets that crossed at this point often taking me to my destination rather than a winding path of side streets and back roads. Right now I was betting that I would be halfway home already had I taken that route instead. I groaned as the car ahead of me rolled forwards another inch - there was no point lifting my foot from the brake just for that tiny bit of progress.

The view over the edge of the overpass was taunting, so much clear space where the wind could reach me instead of being trapped in a slowly more-stagnant vehicle. I peered over the tops of the vehicles in front of me, searching for the traffic light to see if we would be moving soon. A semi-truck sitting two cars ahead of me denied me that privilege. When the brake lights faded in the vehicles before me I knew that I would soon be through the light and would be able to break from the majority of the traffic and take a different route that would hopefully be faster. The semi had cleared the intersection with the two cars on its tail though the light had turned yellow. I cursed and pressed down on the brake pedal, the front of my car over the stop line. Cars rushed through the other way and I tapped incessantly on the steering wheel, my impatience betraying itself. Finally the light changed and I released the brake in order to press on the gas. My car rolled forward, picking up to thirty kilometers an hour as I moved into the intersection.

I was about halfway across the intersection - with two major roads coming together it made for four lanes width to the other side - when I was struck in the driver side by a large, heavy shape. It connected with the door, sending my car sideways and turning it to face a different direction. My hand wrenched on the steering wheel as my head smashed against the crushed side of the car. Stunned, I fell onto the shifter and had it dig, unforgiving, into my side. I couldn't feel my left foot but my leg was causing me more pain than I had felt before. My left arm was limp - I tried to move to get out but it wouldn't respond and I felt panic rise in me. Pushing up with my right hand only gave me ten different points of pain and I collapsed back onto my side as the ache in my side grew worse. I wasn't sure what I was going to do first, vomit or faint, but my head was throbbing and I was getting dizzy. From somewhere outside of my car there were a few shouts but I couldn't make them out. I absent-mindedly raised my right arm to wipe at my nose because was running and the wet trail bothered me. The streak it left was red and I groaned - dizzy and a nosebleed, I must have had quite the head blow. Disoriented, I raised my eyes to what was outside of my vehicle I found that the over-bright glare off of the clouds made my head spin. Just as my stomach felt as though it was going to throw its final revolt, the dizziness turned into a light headed sensation and I passed out, falling limp as everything blacked out.