Leap

He was overcome with emotions as he sat on the banks of the lake looking far into the distance, drenched in water, trembling. Re-running every second of the past hour, and a lot others in his head, as he sipped at his warm instant coffee.

After a drowning incident two years ago, and losing a limb in the process, Karan, a state level swimming champion, had developed a phobia of water.

His glasses were frosted by the vapor rising from his cup, but that particular day from a long time ago played like an HD movie in front of his eyes.

"L-E-A-P" his English teacher recited the word at the end of a class. It was their weekly assignment to find the meaning and synonyms of the word and use them in a sentence.

The following week, he got three stars on his notebook, an applause from his classmates and a chocolate from his teacher as his assignment was the best one. He had always been a bright student, and very fond of all the appreciation and attention that came with it.

It was all the same on that day too.

A bigger sip of the hot coffee pulled him out of the flashback.

He was shaking, his heart racing, and pounding so loud that he felt as if the world could hear it!

It seemed a lot like the panic attacks he'd been suffering from since the episode at the pool, but it was nothing like it.

We watched from a distance, and just when we were about to get closer his laughter filled the surroundings. He put his cup aside, struggled towards us, and hugged each of us tightly, as if he was trying to hold on to this moment and never let it go.

He smiled at the the memory of a child gloating with pride in front of his class, oblivious to the greater lessons he was about to learn.

The boy knew what the word meant, the man comprehended it.

He took a leap, but not just from the cliff and into the lake, but a leap of faith, faith in himself.