He paused for a moment, feeling the familiar nervousness and doubt, then letting the determination and exhilaration flow through his being. Far below--6,500 feet straight down--the huge crowd was shouting, screaming, chanting, cheering him on. The sound rose like a tiny whisper to his ears. He was, in that moment, the supreme tightrope walker in all the world.
A gust of wind reminded him of his height and of his need to keep going, so he moved on, one steady foot before the other, until he reached the other platform. He had walked a distance of 6,500 feet, from one tower to another. His family and friends and media personnel, along, of course, with his personal physician, were there to greet him.
But first, there were his fans. He turned and looked down, held up his arms in a victory gesture.
And suddenly, terrifyingly, a grim thought numbed his mind:
Even now someone, somewhere, is planning to walk a 7,500-foot rope between two towers 7,500 feet off the ground. When that happens what I have done here today will be utterly forgotten--and that will be the end of me.
He could not bear that hideous thought, so he lifted his right hand and waved farewell to the ones behind him, then took a step off the platform and plummeted downward, spinning almost lazily toward his horrified fans far below.
(Submitted in the 250-and-under words category.)
A gust of wind reminded him of his height and of his need to keep going, so he moved on, one steady foot before the other, until he reached the other platform. He had walked a distance of 6,500 feet, from one tower to another. His family and friends and media personnel, along, of course, with his personal physician, were there to greet him.
But first, there were his fans. He turned and looked down, held up his arms in a victory gesture.
And suddenly, terrifyingly, a grim thought numbed his mind:
Even now someone, somewhere, is planning to walk a 7,500-foot rope between two towers 7,500 feet off the ground. When that happens what I have done here today will be utterly forgotten--and that will be the end of me.
He could not bear that hideous thought, so he lifted his right hand and waved farewell to the ones behind him, then took a step off the platform and plummeted downward, spinning almost lazily toward his horrified fans far below.
(Submitted in the 250-and-under words category.)
