Page 62 of Chasing Sunsets

Zack’s words from the second day of the competition ran through her mind.We can’t go back in life. We have to go forward.

The tree continued to shift.

The less time on this bridge the better.

Gripping the ropes tighter, she pulled herself up. As she straightened, the tree swayed worse. Her body tilted. In an attempt to regain her balance, she leaned toward the other side.

The movements started small, then became more exaggerated. Each time she went farther to the left and to the right. Left. Right. Like a tightrope walker off balance, her body spastically wobbled one way and then the other.

She couldn’t stop.

She went too far left. Her body extended over the railing, and she looked down.

A jagged rocky creek with shallow water yawned far below.

Look up. Look up. Look up.

No matter what she said to herself, she couldn’t take her eyes off the canyon bed. As she continued to jerk back and forth, the pointy, spikey, sharp stones shifted in her vision like a disjointed movie reel.

“I believe forgiveness is the best form of love in any relationship. It takes a strong person to say they're sorry and an even stronger person to forgive.” ~ Yolanda Hadid

Chapter Eighteen

Panic surged throughSadie.

She flattened out on the bridge. In a struggle to get stabilized, she reached as far as she could and held on for dear life, but her arms didn’t go all the way around the tree trunk. Another wave of fright coursed through her. She closed her eyes and pressed her face against the bark.

It felt like tiny needles were pricking her everywhere, inside and out, from the top of her head to the tip of her toes.

The rough bark scraped against the left side of her face.

“Sadie!” Truman yelled. “You okay?”

She strained harder to hold on, a prisoner to her terror. “Can’t move.”

A minute later, Lowell shouted, “Sadie, what can I do for you?”

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