Page 24 of My Fearless Fake Fling

The Jump

Seven:

The man just kept upping his game. Rock walls and ziplines should have been the pinnacle, but no. Not with Lennon as my guide. From the zipline, we took the trail to the right. I smelled the heat before I felt it.

And boy, did I feel it coming off a long pit carved out in a flat area of grass and dirt. Len got our tickets punched and a pretty blonde woman led us up to said pit. A pit full of burning charcoal. Some red-hot and some whiter-hotter.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” I said.

“Nope,” he replied.

“Uh, yeah…” I pointed to the pit. “That’s not happening.”

“Yes, it is.”

“Take your shoes off and roll up your pant legs,” this new attendant ordered.

It felt like an out-of-body experience as Len walked me over to the cement bench and held my hand while I sat. He pulled off my shoes and socks, then rolled up my pant legs. Sitting next to me, he did the same for himself. We stood and then before I could throw my impending hissy fit, he had me at the base of the pit while the blonde explained the rules.

“We suggest walking fast, but try to keep your feet flat. It disperses the heat better so you don’t end up charring your skin. When you get to the other side, cool your feet off in the pool. Got it?”

I nodded. “Yes.”

“Great. Remember, pressure points are bad. Now go.”

And because I was apparently good at taking orders but bad at self-preservation now, I stepped onto the coals but didn’t linger.

No pressure points.

Walk fast.

The heat radiated up through my feet, but oddly enough by following her directions, it didn’t burn like I thought it would. More uncomfortable than outright pain. Then yeah, I did it. My feet. Hot coals. Easy-peasy. I stepped onto the grass at the opposite end of the pit, where I was ushered by a second attendant into the small in-ground wading pool to cool my toesies thoroughly.

Black coal dust drifted from my feet and dissolved from the chemicals—I smelled vinegar—in the water. The attendant let me stay standing in the pool while we watched Len walk across the pit.

He barely bent his knees and his toes were spread out wide, arms out to his side for balance, which made him look like a fast-walking Frankenstein’s monster.

Did I look like that?

I doubled over laughing. So much the attendant had to move me so Len could soak his feet too.

“Never done that one before,” he admitted.

My laughter died on my tongue abruptly. “What?”

“Yeah, that was a first.” He shrugged. “And I knew they did it here, so…”

“What’d you think?”

“I’m probably not going to be a professional coal walker. But I’m glad I did it.”

Hearing him say that, I admitted my truth. “Me, too.”

Since there weren’t any more customers yet, they let Len and me sit soaking our feet in the water a while longer. He wrapped an arm around my waist and drew me to him. I rested my head against his shoulder.

“Today was fun,” I admitted.

“It ain’t over, fearless. We got one more to go.”

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