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My heart sank. I thought coming here might make me feel better. I figured a place like this could only stir up good memories, and that I could FaceTime the children in the middle of the sea lion show.
Instead I was feeling more sad and nostalgic than ever.
“Alright!” the trainer shouted cheerfully into the mic. Thankfully, the static was finally gone. “Everyone get ready to give a warm welcome to—”
It happened all so fast I barely had time to react. The little boy, sprinting past me. Flinging his arms up. Ducking through the opening in the steel railing, to go hurtling through the air like Superman…
NO!
My heart leapt into my throat. Rather than think I immediately reacted, leaping from my seat and flinging myself bodily through the same narrow opening. My body only barely fit. I had to go full horizontal, leaving myself totally vulnerable to the effects of gravity as I wrapped both my arms around him to shield him from the inevitable fall.
OhmyGOD—
We were on the fourth or fifth row, a good six or eight feet from the ground. As we dropped through the open air I twisted my body to protect him, cradling him in my arms as I awaited the inevitable hard landing on concrete.
The last thing I saw were the little boy’s two fathers, looking down horrified as they rushed to the edge and clutched the rail. Then I felt an explosion of pain in my back, as a silvery-white darkness took over.
