Thursday, September 3, 2015

JUMP! (FF)

© Rochelle Wisoff-Fields

Roger stood right on the edge, his heart pounding, his will beginning to waver.  

"JUMP! JUMP!"  shouted the voices that seemed to come from all around him. 

"C'MON MAN ... JUMP! JUMP! JUMP!"

"Who are these people?!" wondered Roger. "What do they want?"

Roger was not going to disappoint them.  He said a quick prayer, leaned forward, and arms flailing at his sides, he jumped.

"Fourteen feet, two inches!" exclaimed the referee.  "A new world record in the standing broad jump!"

The crowd cheered.  Now Roger knew who they were: good folks of all kinds, whether sitting in the bargain seats or the brick enclosed skyboxes, whose inspiration had made him a champion.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Serves me right.  No sooner do I write this piece than it turns out nobody does the broad jump anymore.  So if we all shout "Jump! Jump!" these days we're more likely to hear Van Halen than see any great feats of "broad jumpitation."

However, if you click on the word Jump! right here, you will see the great feats of the other Friday Fictioneers relative to the picture prompt above. So say a quick prayer, lean forward, and click "Jump!"

Glad I could inspire you.

25 comments:

Anonymous said...

Great story! A lovely twist of hope and encouragement at the end.

No more broad jump??? God, how old am I, and how did I go from being hip to being out of it??? Also, when did "hip" stop being a thing. Gah!

Sandra Crook said...

I never heard of broad jump. Does that make me very young, very British or the product of a sheltered life? Nice one.

Rochelle Wisoff-Fields said...

Dear Perry,

I think I might have set the record for the lowest standing broad jump ins school. Not only was I the shortest kid in class, I was the least athletic. But now that I'm the decrepit age of 62 no one expects me to jump. I said all that to say I enjoyed your story.

Shalom,

Rochelle

liz young said...

I'm so glad your story didn't end with blood and guts.

Russell said...

I tried to jump a broad once. She was lying on a blanket in the sand, couldn't have been more than 3 1/2 or 4 feet wide. I took a running jump, but my toe caught on her bikini top and worked like a bungee cord. It slung me all the way back to the parking lot. The referee disqualified me for getting out of my lane. Too bad the judge that got Tom Brady off wasn't working that beach.

janet at https://sustainabilitea.wordpress.com/ said...

They still do, Perry. It's just called the long jump now. Silly man!

janet

Perry Block said...

Looks like I was wrong about the broad jump (See Janet below), but it is no longer an Olympic event which is what I had in mind. Now, JUMP!

Perry Block said...

Very young, of course.

Perry Block said...

I am three years more decrepit, so I expect you to jump! C'mon, I'm waiting!

Perry Block said...

I got a paper cut just now. So it did, sort of.

Perry Block said...

Very funny. Unless it actually happened, in which case I'm very turned on! Thanks, Russell. And you too, Tom Brady.

Perry Block said...

I stand corrected. And then I jump. Thanks, Janet!

margirene said...

I wonder how much they pay for those brick enclosed sky boxes. They sound like the ultimate in luxury sports vantage points. LIke Lizy, I'm breathing a sigh of relief that no blood was spilled here.

tedstrutz said...

Good one... not what I was expecting. They called it the Broad Jump when I did it... didn't get too far.

Dawn said...

I'm so glad this story turned out to be a positive inspiring one. Thanks Perry.

Gah Learner said...

There I was expecting great tragedy, and again you make me chuckle. Lovely story.

C. E. Ayr said...

Very funny.
And it may be called the long jump now, but it is definitely not standing.
The have a run up longer than a 747 on take-off.

C. E. Ayr said...

They have, of course!

Perry Block said...

Me too. Of course they run non-stop gladiator movies up in the sky boxes.

Perry Block said...

Yes, I think you, me, and Russell all didn't get too far!

Perry Block said...

You're welcome, Dawn. Inspiration is what I'm all about!

Perry Block said...

Thanks. Glad Roger is chuckling too.

Perry Block said...

That's what confused me! Thanks for the stats.

P.S. Joshi said...

Well, Perry, at least someone is jumping somewhere. Take heart. Perhaps in time there'll be enough fans to bring it back. That was a great twist. I could see someone standing on a ledge. Well done. :) --- Suzanne

Perry Block said...

Thank you, Suzanne. Now, Jump!