Billy Wise fell to his death. He got the kiss from Eva, but Billy’s heart had already stopped beating when her lips met his.
Billy Wise’s father – Billy senior – grieved the death of his son acutely. And even though the teenagers talked about poor Billy Wise, it didn’t stop them coming to the cliff, Billy’s death making the treacherous climb even more of a challenge.
He couldn’t bear the thought of another father losing his son and so Billy senior cashed in his life savings and spent months hammering steel into rocks. But when he was almost finished, when he had sold everything he could to pay for the tools he needed, his money ran out. Billy senior begged and pleaded with the community to help pay for the last few rungs of the ladder. And after many cake sales and sponsored walks, he did it. The metal he used to complete the ladder was not as strong as the metal he had used before. But even so, eventually, his ladder was complete.
Jennifer’s feet climb, her toes curling against the metal rungs beneath. Around her, the green hills roll and turn their backs, the seagulls call her name in warning, but the sea beyond whispers its encouragement. On she climbs: white knuckles, thumping heart, glistening lip. Jennifer is almost at the top, her foot stepping onto the final parts of the ladder that Billy senior had struggled to build . . . the ladder that years of wind and age had been testing the strength of. As the woman’s foot presses down, the rust breaks off, orange dust falling onto the green of her swimsuit as the rung finally pulls away. She watches her fingers holding on to the metal bar, which frees itself. She’s free, falling: no longer waiting for the kiss of life.
‘Jen!’ Ed’s voice brings me back as he calls from behind me. ‘Hurry up!’
I blink.
I pull myself to the top and walk towards the edge of Lovers’ Leap. Beneath me, the pool shimmers with temptation. The sun is beating down and beads of sweat are running along my spine, from the sun as well as the climb up the ladder. The ground scrapes the bottom of my foot as I step back, the jagged edges of the rocks splitting and fracturing, age revealing their scars.
‘We have to kiss first,’ he says before taking a step forward and peering over the edge. ‘It’s quite a long way down.’ He cranes his neck. Excited voices come from behind us and we move aside to let a pair of teenagers kiss. Laughing and standing on opposite sides of the ledge, they count: ‘One, two, three!’ Their nimble bodies leap into the air, and their squeals are received by the pool with a splash, just a split second later. Ed takes my hand and we step towards the edge, where the teenagers are swimming towards each other, grinning and smoothing their hair back. They meet, arms around each other’s necks; another kiss before swimming to the edge of the pool.
‘Are you sure you want to do this?’ he asks, his eyebrows meeting as he scans the distance below us.
‘Yep. You don’t have to if you don’t want to do it,’ I say, taking in the pallor of his skin and the worry crossing his features.
‘What, and let you have all the fun? Not likely.’ He grins, with uncertainty resting in the corners of his lips.
We kiss. I taste the salt in our sweat, and the tang of strawberries as we pull apart and stand in our respective positions.
‘One, two, three!’ I shout. The air around me stills, my ears filled only with the sound of my heart beating as my feet step forward. How easy it is to just step into air. It takes no effort, the same movement that you use when you get out of bed to go to the toilet. I do thousands of these steps every day, and yet none of them have ever made me feel this way. My stomach feels as though it’s rising faster than my body is descending, the sensation deliciously different while my eyes glimpse the greens and the blues surrounding me. I am free. Nothing is holding me, keeping me trapped; I can’t decide to stop: my action cannot be reclaimed. All too soon, my freedom is taken away from me. I have to tell myself to hold my breath as my body plummets into the water; I have to