The minister leaps, then the groom. The wedding party plummets after them, tuxedo-tailed and pastel-trimmed vacuum suits all inertially aflutter.
At cliff’s edge, two suited figures hesitate.
“Ready?” A muffled, helmet-to-helmet question.
“As I’ll ever be, Dad.”
They step off Verona Rupes, commencing the eleven minute, twelve mile freefall.
Pachelbel’s Canon in D swells in their earpieces as thrusters throttle up. A half-mile down they reunite with the wedding procession.
As the couple joins gloves the minister begins: “Dearly beloved, marriage is a leap of faith.” Everyone involuntarily glances down. The minister grins. “Endeavor to ensure one another’s soft landing.”
Marc A. Criley avidly read fantasy and science fiction for forty years before finally deciding to try his hand at writing it. His short stories have appeared in Beneath Ceaseless Skies, Abyss & Apex, and elsewhere. Marc maintains a blog at kickin-the-darkness.com and noisily tweets as @That_MarcC.
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