I can make that jump

I can make that jump

Adam was sitting looking at his beer in the roof of his apartment building, he had a rough year; he just broke up with his girlfriend and was stuck in a dead end job. Luckily for him, his friends David and Tom were always there to support him, they were talking about girls, sports and work, a normal Saturday night.

A couple of minutes after they noticed Adam was kind of drifting away and asked him what the matter was. He told them everything, what was going on, what he felt and that he didn´t know what to do; they had already talked about this and every time they made the same suggestion, a fresh start, they told him to quit his job, find a new one, date other girls, to enjoy life.

Adam was exceptic and afraid of change, but they had a point. They kept drinking and talking about silly things, they were kind of drunk by the time the subject reemerged, tired of hearing him complain David snapped and made him a bet. They were looking to their left, to the building next to theirs, there was a gap between the both of them, David told Adam that if he could jump the gap he had to quit his job on Monday. Maybe it was the beer or maybe he liked the idea, he didn´t really know but he agreed.

They stood up and walked all the way to the edge, but to Adam it looked as if the buildings were a mile apart, it was impossible for David to make the jump but when he realized what his friend was about to do it was too late he was already taking the leap, he watched in slow motion as his friend flew between the roofs and landed gracefully on the next building. He was amazed, his heart was racing as he turned to see Tom laughing and getting ready to jump himself, and before he could stop him, Tom was with David, in the next building.

They were shouting at Adam, encouraging him to jump with them. As he stood on the edge he doubted himself, he could never make it, it was too far, he looked back, to the chairs and the beers as he thought about the year he just had, he never felt so bad in his life, it had been horrible, and he wanted to leave all that behind. He turned to face his friends; they were smiling and laughing, encouraging him.

He looked down, then forward, maybe the jump meant something else, a way to leave everything behind, a clean start, he could jump and let his troubles behind. Then a thought popped in his mind, a thought that pops in every man’s mind at least once in his life, “I can make that jump” he thought, so he did, he closed his eyes and jumped, he felt as if all his problems stayed there, in that roof, as if he was starting something new, for the first time in months he felt free again, he landed feet first in front of his friends, hugged them and laughed, forgetting all his problems.

He was a new Adam, David and Tom could tell it just from seeing his smile.

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